Classic EastEnders star teases potential future comebacks for Clare Bates as she resurfaces for Nigel’s story: "When he passes it will be so sad"

When Nigel Bates returned to EastEnders in 2024 after 26 years, fans with fond memories of the 90s hoped stepdaughter Clare would follow. It may have taken Nigel’s worsening dementia to bring the character back to Walford, but at last the time has come.

It’s not just the audience who’ve been waiting for this emotional reunion; Gemma Bissix herself admits that since Paul Bradley rejoined the cast as her fictional father, she’s been poised to reprise the role of Clare, who she first played back in 1993 when she was just nine years old.

“I was definitely hoping, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,” she begins, speaking exclusively to Radio Times.

“This time last year, when I went back to Hollyoaks (where she plays devious Clare Devine, more of her later) my agent contacted EastEnders about my potential availability, and they said they’d been thinking about bringing Clare back but much further down the line. I never told anyone in case it didn’t happen.”

Thankfully, it has, and at a point in the story that makes Clare’s presence even more heartbreaking. Nigel’s condition has deteriorated to the point where his wife Julie Bates (Karen Henthorn) and best friend Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) can no longer provide the care he needs, meaning he needs to go into a home.

Even though confused Nigel has asked to see his daughter, despite years of estrangement, when she appears at his hospital bed he doesn’t even recognise her.

“Julie has told Clare over the phone that Nigel is ill, but not how far gone he is,” continues Bissix. “Clare thinks Julie has deliberately kept this from her to be hurtful. Julie is bitter as to why Clare hasn’t been in contact with Nigel, but Clare also feels abandoned as he didn’t reach out to her.

“Clare felt pushed out when Nigel married Julie. For many years it was just Clare and Nigel, she lost her mum Debbie at an early age, had no relationship with her biological father Liam who was in prison. Nigel was her stepdad and Clare saw him as her proper dad, but maybe she felt that lack of blood relation during her teenage years.”

Nigel and Clare’s falling out was alluded to in 2008, when Bissix made a brief return, where we saw the sweet, sensible schoolgirl had grown up into a manipulative maneater and con artist. No wonder her dad had washed his hands of her.

“That was all a bolshy façade,” defends Bissix. “Clare was searching for somewhere to belong and still processing her mum’s death. Towards the end of those few months in 2008, we started to see a more genuine side, but the audience was ready to see the back of her by then. She’s definitely matured.

“The beauty of her coming back now is we get to see the Clare from the 90s again. She’s still got that sting in her tail, but that’s her protective armour, which comes off in some big scenes with other characters. I’ve got some lovely stuff obviously with Paul, as well as Karen Henthorn and Steve McFadden, who I adore.”

Facing the inevitable as far as Nigel’s condition is concerned triggers a wave of emotion Clare isn’t prepared for. Not only is she recalling her grief for Debbie (Nicola Duffett) from 30 years ago, but Bissix believes her alter ego is also full of regret at the years she’ll never get back with her dad.

“Clare took Nigel for granted and thought he’d always be there. Maybe her opportunity to apologise for putting her walls up and not reaching out could be lost, it might be too late.”

Someone who wasn’t even born the last time Clare was in the Square turns out to be her greatest support. Lexi Pearce (Isabella Brown) knows what it’s like to lose a parent when you’re barely in double figures, having lost her mum, Lola Pearce-Brown (Danielle Harold), in 2023.

“The relationship between Clare and Lexi is organic as they’ve been through the same thing at the same age,” says Bissix. “They bond as Clare talks about Debbie and recalls how Nigel was there for her. It’s recapping those old episodes with Clare’s memories, which also made me think about my early days on EastEnders.”

A “loud and over-the-top child,” by her own admission, Bissix began attending drama classes once a week after school when she was eight. After signing with an agency, she got an audition for EastEnders, not realising the impact it would have on her life.

“The only reason I got the part was because I looked like Nicola Duffett, who was playing my mother,” she remembers. “And I guess I was confident enough to read a script. At nine years old, you either deliver lines and sound natural, or like a robot.”

Her clearly natural ability impressed producers who cast her for what was initially just three episodes, which became six years.

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EastEnders enjoyed a huge peak of popularity in the mid-90s. In the days before streaming, and with only four terrestrial channels, it regularly achieved ratings of around 20 million. For nine-year-old Bissix, not only was she instantly famous, but she was also working with some of TV’s most high-profile stars.

“I’ll never forget Steve McFadden coming up to me on my first day,” she laughs. “He asked me if I knew my lines. I said yes quite confidently. Then he took my script away and told me to recite them! I was terrified, but he said you’ll never be scared of anything else ever again! Steve really helped me, he is a masterclass. EastEnders is where I learnt my craft, how to conduct myself and be professional.

“Although I do remember getting a telling off once. Susan Tully (Michelle Fowler) and Letitia Dean (Sharon Watts) were doing a scene where I had to come in at the end with just one line. The girls were particularly giggly that day, and it took about six or seven takes. They finally did it and kept a straight face. I opened the door for my line and started laughing, ruining the take where they’d got it right! Since then, I’ve never corpsed!”

Bissix was surrounded by legendary pros, and namechecks one particular Walford icon for encouraging her. “Barbara Windsor was such a champion of mine and gave me so much confidence as a child. She was quite hot on people knowing their lines and was very strict, but my father was quite strict growing up, so I responded well to that kind of discipline. I wanted to impress her, and whenever you did something right or showed effort, she really complimented you.

“She helped me get an agent after leaving the child acting agency. I’m still with the same agent today. After she passed, her husband Scott said Barbara always spoke so highly of me – that’s still bewildering and amazing to me. I’ve kept good luck cards from Barbara and Martine McCutcheon, from when I left in 1998.”

Clare was written out when Bradley quit, with Nigel getting a happy ending, or so we thought, which saw him move to Scotland with his new love, Julie Haye. “Part of me was quite happy to leave,” reflects Bissix. “I’d lived EastEnders from the age of nine, by then I was nearly 16 and felt I’d missed out on growing up a bit. It’s like when you have a hobby and it's everything gets taken up with it. I was happy to go back to being normal.”

After trying her hand at everything from qualifying as an electrician to training as a bra fitter for Marks and Spencer, Bissix made a spectacular return to soap in 2006 as Hollyoaks’ super villain Clare Devine, as wildly different a character from her EastEnders’ namesake as you can get.

“I’m a happy-go-lucky, friendly person, so it was nice to play someone so steely who murders people for fun. It’s obviously very far-removed from me! Clare is like the alter ego you wish you could’ve channelled if anyone was mean to you at school.”

Cruel Clare became one of Hollyoaks’ biggest characters, whose popularity means she’s cheated death on several occasions to ensure semi-regular comebacks. In 2025, she was resurrected, 12 years after being zipped up in a body bag. Clare is in prison for killing her sister, but Bissix reveals the character has unfinished business…

“I’ve been back at Hollyoaks doing some filming, but I can’t tell you anything else! It’s not a long stint, but Clare is the kind of character who dips in and out. She could never live in the village as she’s done too many bad things. But whenever Hollyoaks needs a bit of drama, you can rely on Clare to bring it!”

In stark contrast to the heightened space of Hollyoaks, Bissix admits she’s enjoying the more grounded material provided by EastEnders. “I’ve really enjoyed that natural acting style and raw emotion. When Clare Devine cries, you never know if it's fake tears! EastEnders feels more real. Clare Bates is the character that’s closest to who I am.”

Bissix is brimming with enthusiasm at being back in her professional childhood home. As Nigel settles into full-time care, there’s a sense he may not have long left, meaning there is scope for Clare to make more visits.

“It’s inevitable Nigel won’t last forever," notes Bissix. "When he passes it will be so sad. Clare leaves, having built some bridges, especially with Julie.

"It would be nice to explore their stepmother/daughter relationship and for them to call on each other. I would hope Clare would return for a funeral as and when it happens, but nothing is set in stone yet."

She added, "Clare is now married and has a child. I’d like to see them one day. Maybe my daughter, who’s 10 now, could come in and play Clare’s little girl – how good would that be?"

Read more:

• 5 EastEnders spoilers this week: Clare Bates's emotional return and Max Branning seeks revenge
• EastEnders finally confirms emotional return after 18 years for Nigel’s dementia storyline
• EastEnders' Callum Highway fears for his future after incriminating Ben Mitchell scam in BBC iPlayer release

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