Patsy Palmer admits to arriving at 'Enders high on drugs

(BANG) -

'EastEnders' star Patsy Palmer used to turn up on set "high on booze and drugs".

The 38-year-old actress - who is currently on maternity leave from the BBC One soap - admitted when she first started playing Bianca Jackson in 1993 she would sometimes go straight to work after all-night benders.

She said: "I was turning up on set straight from the clubs high on booze and drugs.

"I'd get in, have a shower and see if I was meant to be on set. If I wasn't, I'd get straight into bed, go to sleep in my dressing room and then they'd wake me up. Each time I went to sleep I'd wake up and feel a little bit better."

Patsy - who has stayed clean from drink and drugs since her rebab stint seven years ago - explained 'EastEnders' bosses were so concerned about her partying they decided to write Bianca out of the show for a month so the actress could "sort it out".

Speaking to Piers Morgan on his 'Life Stories' series for ITV1, she added: "Eastenders' executive producer at the time, Jane Harris, called me upstairs and said, 'You need to go off. I'm going to write you out for a month'.

"She said it because she really, really cared about me. She said, 'You need to go off and sort this out'."

(C) BANG Media International