EastEnders star John Partridge left unable to speak in three year ordeal

Former EastEnders star John Partridge has been talking about the years’ long health ordeal that left him not knowing whether he would sing – or even speak – again.

The actor, who is about to star in a touring production of the hit musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie as Hugo/Loco, has had an extensive stage career but is also well known to soap fans for his EastEnders role.

John played Christian Clarke and was involved in the massive story arc that saw Christian in a relationship with Syed Masood (Marc Elliott), something that was complicated due to Syed’s religion and the views of his family.

Christian and Syed left the show together in 2012 as they headed for a new life in America. John Partridge returned to the show on several occasions in the years following.

Talking to Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, John opened up about the surgeries he had to have on his vocal cords.

‘I had two surgeries on my vocal cords through the pandemic and it wasn’t guaranteed that I’d ever be able to sing or speak really again,’ he revealed.

He described how difficult the ordeal had been.

‘For me singing is like my seventh sense – I wasn’t able to speak at all for nine months and for me, it was like losing my sight or losing my hearing. I sing when I feel good, when I feel down, I sing without even knowing when you’re driving along in the car. It was a really debilitating thing.’

Luckily John has had the all-clear from his surgeons and now describes himself as ‘Fully fit, fighting fit and ready to go’ as he looks forward to going on the road with the Everybody’s Talking About Jamie cast, which includes Emmerdale’s Hayley Tamaddon as Miss Hedge.

There has been a lasting effect of John’s surgeries, though – he’s now able to sing notes he couldn’t previously reach.

‘I had what they call a glottoplasty. This is what happens when you go from male to female transition, it’s kind of the female vocal feminisation process where they slightly shave away your vocal chord to raise the pitch of your voice. So my left chord they slightly shaved that away so I got myself a couple more notes at the top,’ he said.

As well as his acting and musical career, John has enjoyed reality TV success, winning Celebrity Masterchef in 2018 and also appearing in Celebrity Big Brother.

He revealed in 2018 that he had previously been diagnosed with testicular cancer. He kept the diagnosis secret because he feared he might miss out on work opportunities, but later decided to speak out to encourage men to come forward to be screened and tested for the condition.

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