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Nina Wadia was punched for playing EastEnders homophobe

Nina Wadia once was punched by an EastEnders fan credit:Bang Showbiz
Nina Wadia once was punched by an EastEnders fan credit:Bang Showbiz

Nina Wadia was once punched by an ‘EastEnders’ fan who mistook her for her homophobe character.

The ‘Outlaws’ star - who played the anti-gay Zainab Masood on the BBC One soap - described the “good and the bad” about being a part of a programme with such a dedicated fanbase, admitting the viewers sometimes lose themselves into the plotlines.

The 52-year-old actress told the 'Brydon &' podcast: “You belong to them, to the point where there’s good and bad.

"I had scary incidents leaving the studio where I was driving out one day and this guy jumped in my car and said, ‘Oh, can you sign this photo?’. And I went, ‘Get out of my car.'

“And they’ll tell you what they think of you as your character.

"Like when I was playing this homophobe, I had this woman in the supermarket who punched me on the arm.

“She said, ‘My son’s gay and you’re disgusting’, and walked off.”

In October, Nina blasted ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ judge Craig Revel Horwood's scoring after she was eliminated from the show.

She claimed he had not been operating under “a level playing field” when it comes to scoring the contestants, after she received a score of three out of 10 for her Tango.

Nina said: "If you have a competition, have a level playing field. Give everybody a chance or if not that, then at least mark accordingly.

“You can’t give someone like me a three when I’ve tried so hard and tried something so technically difficult, then at the same time give someone else who’s had a bit of a mistake a seven just because they looked good doing it."