EastEnders legend branded ‘disgusting, creepy sex pest’ after ‘frightening’ encounter

Actress Arabella Weir has claimed she feared for her safety when EastEnders star Leslie Grantham allegedly accosted her in a dressing room.

The 65-year-old who recently joined ITV’s Coronation Street claimed she suffered from sexual harassment on nearly every show she has previously worked on.

But talking about her experience on EastEnders, Arabella claimed she felt she was in “real danger” when she encountered the shamed late star Leslie, who portrayed the infamous character Den Watts.

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Speaking candidly about her terrifying experience, she claimed to The Sun: “Leslie Grantham was a disgusting, creepy sex pest.

Arabella Weir claims Leslie Grantham accosted her in a dressing room(Image: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

“He suddenly appeared in my trailer door. He didn’t knock, he just walked in and said something about fancying me. It was pretty graphic and I thought, ‘Oh f**k’.

“I remember thinking he’d gone beyond what anyone could excuse as funny flirty banter and that I might be in trouble.”

Recalling the incident, the actress said her ordeal was “frightening” and she “didn’t feel I could joke my way out of it”.

Arabella went on to compare her situation and Leslie to former film producer Harvey Weinstein but later explained that someone knocked on the door and interrupted Leslie’s advances.

The soap star alleged that she felt that the knock on the door was done on purpose to rescue her from the situation.

The late actor was known for his sleazy reputation(Image: BBC)

Arabella worked alongside Leslie, who was later exposed as a secret webcam pervert who exposed himself to young girls while in his BBC dressing room, on the 1995 cop series 99-1.

Before his acts came to light, Leslie also served 10 years of a life sentence after being convicted of murder in 1967, following an attempted robbery.

Since then Arabella has starred in a number of shows including comedy Two Doors Down and recently joined Coronation Street playing the role of posh Yvette.

Arabella plays Yvette in Coronation Street

In a recent episode, Yvette and her husband Patrick bumped into old neighbours Ed and Aggie Bailey while out for a meal.

Although she’s been on TV for many years, Arabella admitted she was anxious at setting foot on the famous cobbles.

She also shared her surprise to be called for a part on the show due to the fact that she is not “northern”.

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