The actress, who played Hayley Slater on EastEnders, was forced to get a day job at B&M after leaving the BBC soap and was ‘job-shamed’, before later working in a garage
The UK’s soap scene is a beloved fixture in British culture, with shows like Coronation Street and EastEnders providing a daily dose of drama. Characters such as the much-adored pub landlord Mick Carter, portrayed by Danny Dyer, and the legendary Phil Mitchell have become household names across the nation.
However, fans are often left gobsmacked when soap stars leave their fictional roles for real-world gigs. One star who took an unexpected career move is Katie Jarvis, who played Hayley Slater on EastEnders from 2018 to 2019.
The move comes after a racially aggravated brawl almost ended her career back in 2020, which resulted in a sentence of 200 hours of unpaid work and a 60-hour rehabilitation order. Despite the setback, the 33-year-old briefly returned to acting in Rise of the Footsoldier: Origins as Donna, but has since focused on living a quieter life and raising her two children.
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Following the end of her EastEnders stint, coupled with bereavement for lost family members around that period, Katie took a hiatus from the public eye for three months. She then embraced a security position at B&M to support her family, where her sister Becky was already employed.
Explaining why she worked in the public place, she shared: “Rather than sit at home and be depressed and miserable, I thought I’ll go and work with my sister Becky.
“So, we both worked at the same place in security, she got me in there, then it turns out a week later, obviously word has got out, and about a week later my phone starts ringing [from the press]. Then, these pictures come out of me the next day, the front of the papers, of me walking into work.”
She also discussed the “job-shaming” she faced after transitioning from the small screen to a regular day job. The actress said: “Up until EastEnders, I never had no bad publicity, no drama, I never had no s**t at all. I go on EastEnders and everyone jumps on everything, everyone’s up your a**e, everyone wants to be in your business, everyone thinks that they know you, it just changes the whole dynamic completely.
“You can’t win, it doesn’t matter what you do, you can’t win,” she lamented during her chat on the Criminal Connection podcast.
Talking to Grazia, the actress from Dagenham offered a closer insight into her situation and said: “It’s the nature of being an actor.” She added: “Gigs come and go, and after my contract with EastEnders ended in February, I found a new job as soon as I could.”
Katie is now said to work at a garage and has held numerous other normal jobs in between acting. “I’ve done a railway engineering course, I’m qualified in nails, I’ve done all sorts, the list is never ending,” she disclosed.
She added: “I’ve pulled back a little bit now, the last film I done was The Rise of the Footsolider, I was over the moon to play Donna.
“I’m working at the moment, a normal job, I’ve pulled back from the filming a little bit. I’m working at a garage. Like what Hayley was in EastEnders, I love it. I love the people I work with as well, it’s great.”
Despite her history of job-hopping, Katie revealed that she feels “quite happy and settled” in her role and has no intention of leaving, seemingly dismissing any speculation about a potential return to the soap.
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