EE: Gemma goes back to Square 1

[faceless]

I just found these pics of her that were in some lads' mag... bit saucy, but nothing more.

http://upload.croqaudile.com/infec/croq/november/gemmabissix/001.jpg
http://upload.croqaudile.com/infec/croq/november/gemmabissix/002.jpg
http://upload.croqaudile.com/infec/croq/november/gemmabissix/003.jpg
http://upload.croqaudile.com/infec/croq/november/gemmabissix/004.jpg
http://upload.croqaudile.com/infec/croq/november/gemmabissix/005.jpg
http://upload.croqaudile.com/infec/croq/november/gemmabissix/006.jpg

[Skylace]

She is a good looking girl. I'm jealous!

[eefanincan]

Should make having to watch the show a little easier for you , face

[faceless]

Gemma Bissix On Her Racy Return To EastEnders
Mar 23 2008
Steve Hendry

When Gemma Bissix returned to EastEnders the message was simple: welcome home - now get your kit off. The young actress played sweet but frumpy teenager Clare Bates for six years until she was written out of the show in 1998, when she and her dad Nigel (Paul Bradley) headed off to a new life in Scotland. Ten years on, Gemma's back on Albert Square as a man-eating superbitch who doesn't think twice about using her feminine charms to get what she wants.

Gemma blames the year she spent on Hollyoaks - as another villainous vamp - for the dramatic change in Clare's personality. She said: "It's exactly that, 'You've been in Hollyoaks so give us a bit of the same'. I wasn't aware she was going to be so scantily clad. I knew she was going to be a minx but not that she was going to wear so little so often. Samantha Janus told me she was in low-cut tops all the time when she started so I think it's a bit of an initiation. I don't think it's going to stop, though. That is her character. She thinks she looks sexy and she reckons that's what it takes to get blokes on their knees. You can't blame her - it works for most."

It almost worked on married chip shop boss Ian Beale, who she targeted as a potential sugar daddy and set about seducing him when she first arrived back in the Square in February. But pity poor Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian. Albert Square's longest-serving resident knew Gemma well when she was a kid and had great difficulty being confronted by her as a scantily clad, sexy blonde.

Gemma said: "Poor Adam. He spent a day staring at my chest for one scene, trying to get the fact that the last time he saw me I was 14 out of his head. He was a friend of Nigel so he was around all the time when I was first here and we'd done scenes together. Now, instead of this snotty-nosed little girl making Nigel's tea, she was trying to seduce him and get him in his Y-fronts."

Gemma is revelling in her return to EastEnders and doing things she was never allowed to, such as having a drink after work at the BBC bar. She said: "I wasn't even allowed in before because I was under 18." But she remembers what it was like being a kid on the show too and helps younger members of the cast if needed, especially the newly recruited young family of Bianca (Patsy Palmer) who is set to return next week. She said: "I've become a sort of child mentor. There's a lot of them around and Patsy Palmer's character Bianca is coming in with a lot of kids so I make sure I speak to them. It's breaking that barrier between adult and child. I'm a big kid anyway. I'm the oldest of five so I'm used to it."

When she left EastEnders in 1998, Gemma caught up with school work, which had begun to suffer, and got 10 GCSEs. She appeared in panto three years running but did no other acting jobs. She said: "After being in it for six years, I just wanted to be a normal kid for a while."

Gemma rediscovered her passion for acting but worked in a variety of jobs to pay her mortgage, including a bra-fitter for Marks & Spencer, running a pub and working for her dad's electrical wholesale business. All the while, she was going for auditions and made her big-time return to the screen in 2006 when she was cast as Hollyoaks uber-bitch Clare Cunningham, who tried to kill her husband for his life insurance before being pushed off a balcony. She won the Villain Of The Year at the British Soap Awards 2007 for her efforts - and was soon on her way back to EastEnders.

She said: "My contract with Hollyoaks ended and I had nothing lined up but, six days after I left, I was asked for a meeting with the BBC. We had a discussion and I was offered the job there and then. It must be a record - being out of work for six days." Going back to Albert Square has been a strange experience. And she got a feeling of deja vu when she had lunch with her old screen dad Paul Bradley, now starring in Holby City which is also filmed at the BBC's Elstree Studios. She said: "Paul's kept in touch with my mum and me. I had lunch with him on my first day back which was lovely - he was so happy for me. I was nine years old when I started so Paul saw me grow up. It is like going back in time. I was in the Square the other day and looked up at a camera crane and remembered doing a scene about VE day 10 years before, in that exact spot. I was in my own little world. There are people here who were once runners but are now production managers."

One thing unlikely to change, however, is the new Clare Bates. This bitch, it seems, is back to stay - and she won't be wearing much. Clare moves in with Dot Cotton and she is soon trying to get her claws into fellow lodger Bradley Branning (Charlie Clements) - who arrives home to find his new housemate in her underwear.

Gemma said: "She is always going to be a man-eater. She doesn't feel she has to earn a living to keep herself in nice clothes and champagne - someone else will pay for it. I'm having a great time playing her and I hope to do so for a long time to come. Instead of this snotty-nosed little girl who used to make tea, she is now trying to seduce him"


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[Skylace]

While the character is an uber-bitch for sure, I've enjoyed her. The actress is just great. And it's great that she does take her lumps but then moves on. She knew that with Ian and Jane. She's a great addition.

[eefanincan]

Uber-bitch is right... but she does a great job with the role.

[pirtybirdy]

She is very good at it, but at the same time very transparent, at least to me. I've seen phony women like her in my day. LOL!!

[Twirley]

I can't decide if I like this character or not. I do hope Bradley doesn't fall for her charms. I'm surprised she's not tried to get her claws more seriously into Jack. Don't know if there's anyone else in the square she could target.

Methinks we need some more hot-blooded males...a few younger ones and a few in their thirties.

[Skylace]

I agree Twirls. We need a few more men on the scene.

I for one don't like the character as an individual but I enjoy seeing her on screen. The actress does a great job. But I do agree with Pirty that she's very transparent. But I think that is how she is supposed to be. Jane was able to sniff her out straight away but Ian was blinded, same with Bradley and poor Dot.

[eefanincan]

I did have a chuckle the other night when Dot came home from seeing Jim and told her to put on something "warmer"..... you just knew she wasn't going to tolerate her prancing around in that shorty robe

And on that topic.... I sometimes think Bradley is totally blind to flirting and stuff like that. I mean, she was practically standing there stark naked and all he's thinking about is his bacon sandwich

[Skylace]

I have noticed that about Bradley but it's actually one of the things I like about him.

[Twirley]

[Kezza]

Me three - it's what makes Bradley endearing.