EX EastEnders star Katie Jarvis has spoken about her job as a security guard at bargain store B&M for the first time.
The actress, 28, shocked fans when she was pictured on her break at the retailer’s Romford, Essex store at the weekend – just six months after last appearing on the hit BBC soap.
Now Katie – who is mum to Lillie Mae, ten, and Alfie, eight – has hit back at her “job-shamers”.
Speaking on Victoria Derbyshire, she explained: “All actors go through it over the years, I’ve had so many jobs in between and not just being a security guard.”
She added that she’s proud to be doing all she can to provide for her family in between acting jobs.
She continued: “One of my sisters she calls me a dabbler because I seem to do a bit of everything and I like to be busy and I like to learn new things, it doesn’t matter what it is.
“The people I work with there are amazing, they get up every single day, they work hard for their money and it doesn’t matter what job you’re doing.
“I don’t feel like anyone should be made to feel like how I felt when I woke up.
“I think as long as you’re working that’s all that matters.”
She also admitted the role is far from easy, pointing out that security guards put themselves at risk for other people’s safety.
She said: “A lot goes into being a security guard, they put themselves at risk. I took that job on and joined my sister because she’s a security guard there.”
Katie kicked off her acting career in 2009 drama Fish Tank alongside Michael Fassbender, before landing the part of Hayley Slater in EastEndesr from the beginning of 2018.
The loudmouth character was at the centre of an major storyline in which she got pregnant with Alfie Moon’s baby after having an affair in Spain.
Their betrayal was discovered by Kat Slater in last year’s explosive Christmas special – with Katie’s final scenes being aired in February.
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Fans wondered where the new mum had got to, but a source told Daily Star Sunday: “A lot of people have been wondering where Hayley is after she left so suddenly but the mystery has been solved, she’s in Romford working at B&M.
“There was so much speculation about her departure, but there was no reason to keep the character in Albert Square once the storyline ended and Alfie had gone.”
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