The brother of EastEnders actress Patsy Palmer has revealed he is checking himself into rehab, two years after being released from prison.
Patsy’s brother Albert Harris, 56, has struggled with heroin addiction since he was 12 years old, and although he has been clean for a year, he wants to get rid of his need for methadone.
Albert was released from prison in 2022 after serving a five-year sentence for armed robbery in London. He served an equal term in 2010 for the same offense in Bristol.
The siblings have not spoken for a year because of Patsy, 51, who has lived stateside since 2014, but Albert hopes to get better so he can see her and ‘make our mum proud’, he said. The mirror on Saturday.
Patsy and Albert have ‘always been close’, he said, but the distance and his convictions have made it a challenge to see each other.
EastEnders actress Patsy Palmer’s brother has revealed he is checking himself into rehab, two years after being released from prison
“I’m stuck on this medication, but soon I’m going to go somewhere and I’ll get that freedom back and start a new life,” Albert said.
He has decided that he would like to spend the next part of his life as a volunteer or counselor helping people fight addiction.
Albert, who lives by himself in a one-room apartment, believes that change is possible at any age and that with his experience of addiction he can help others overcome it.
He started taking methadone in prison after he was given it to help with pain after surgery to remove a tumor on his spine.
But it makes him feel tired and leaves him sitting on the couch all day watching TV. He said: ‘I’m a slave to the chemist and I can’t get a job while I’m at it.’
Albert, who goes to Narcotics Anonymous several times a week, admitted it can be challenging when people find out he takes methadone and learn about his prison stint.
“But it stops my urges and prevents me from going into the dark world, being around those people and committing crimes,” he said.
He has taken heroin twice since leaving prison but has been clean for a year and has vowed to continue going to meetings as if he believes he is better, he can relapse.
Albert Harris was released from prison in 2022 after serving a five-year sentence for armed robbery in London
The siblings have not spoken for a year because of Patsy, 51, who has lived stateside since 2014, but Albert hopes to get better so he can see her and ‘make our mum proud’
Patsy was seen back on screens earlier this month as Bianca, having first hit screens in 1993 before Patsy left the soap in 1999
Albert takes credit for his famous sister’s first acting gig, saying he was the one who got her into the theater after seeing an advert for the Anna Scher Theater in Islington in a newspaper.
And he was along for the ride for a while when both played roles together in Joseph and His Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Albert and Patsy were raised by their mother after she separated with their taxi driver father, close to each other. Their older brother Harry moved up and the couple lived at home with their mother for another four years.
Albert wants to make his sister, who has spent £12,000 helping him kick the habit, proud and see her again when he is clean.
The actress herself has struggled with drug addiction throughout her life, just like her brother.
In her autobiography, Patsy revealed that she had her first drink when she was eight years old, and that she was regularly smoking weed by the age of 11.
Patsy was seen back on screens earlier this month as Bianca when she was visited by her stepdaughter Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) in Milton Keynes.
Bianca first appeared on screen in 1993 before Patsy left the soap in 1999 to spend more time with her family.
She returned to screens in 2002 for a special and made further returns in 2009 and 2019, before her upcoming comeback.