90s actor looks unrecognisable with silver hair and a bushy beard as he heads on a coffee run – but can YOU tell who it is?
He gained heartthrob status on two of the 80s and 90s biggest shows.
But fast-forward 38 years, gone are his boyish looks as the former TV star looked worlds away from his heyday as he showcased his silver hair and thick bushy beard.
Clad in a loose-fitting T-shirt, baggy jeans and dark trainers, the star shielded his eyes from the piercing sun with a pair of trendy sunglasses.
The star stepped out 11 years after quitting TV to be a stay at home dad.
But can YOU guess the star?
Who’s that? He gained heartthrob status on Heartbeat and EastEnders in the 80s and 90s before quitting the spotlight a decade ago… but can YOU guess who this TV legend is?
It’s Heartbeat and EastEnders star Nick Berry!
Nick shot to fame portraying Simon Wicks in EastEnders and Sergeant Nick Rowan in Heartbeat in the 80s and 90s.
The star, 60, who made his last TV appearance in 2012 at the funeral of his on-screen EastEnders’ mother Pat Butcher, cut a very low-key figure on the outing.
Clad in a loose-fitting T-shirt, baggy jeans and dark trainers, the star shielded his eyes from the piercing sun with a pair of trendy sunglasses.
Nick had a stellar acting career on British television but stepped away from the screen aged 39 to raise his two sons.
After springing to fame as Simon Wicks in EastEnders in 1985, Berry left in 1990 and decamped to the Yorkshire Dales for a six year stint as Heartbeat’s Sergeant Nick Rowan, before taking on the role of harbour master Mike Nicholls in Harbour Lights.
He reached heartthrob status with hordes of screaming fans besieging the BBC studios where the soap was filmed.
There was even a brief pop career too: in 1986 Berry released a single, Every Loser Wins, which became the second biggest-selling record in the UK that year.
Changing look: It’s Nick Berry! The actor looked worlds away from his EastEnders and Heartbeat heyday while stepping out for a coffee on Sunday as he emerged with silver hair and a thick bushy beard
Out and about: Clad in a loose-fitting T-shirt, baggy jeans and dark trainers, the star shielded his eyes from the piercing sun with a pair of trendy sunglasses
On the Square: The star, 60, who made his last TV appearance in 2012 at the funeral of his on-screen EastEnders’ mother Pat Butcher, cut a very low-key figure on the outing (pictured as Simon Wicks in 1985)
Out and about: Nick had a stellar acting career on British television but stepped away from the screen aged 39 to raise his two sons
Save for filming police drama In Deep as police detective Liam Ketman alongside Stephen Tompkinson, which ran from 2001-2003, Berry disappeared from view.
He turned his back on acting to become a stay-at-home father to his two sons Louis, now 27, and 24-year-old Finley.
At one point, he was rumoured to have been offered a £2million golden-handcuffs deal by EastEnders executives when he resigned in the late Eighties.
He was said to have amassed an estimated £5million from his time in the spotlight – enough to fund a rambling house in Epping, Essex, and a beach house in Hove.
Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2011 about his decision to step away from the spotlight, he said: ‘I chose to be a stay-at-home dad and have loved it…
‘I always said that when the boys were teenagers I could go back, but the longer you don’t do something the harder it is to do it, and I haven’t really missed it. While I’d never say never, I’m genuinely happy as I am.’
‘The job was great. You’re driven everywhere, fed every five minutes and told what to do and where to go. What I struggled with was that the boys were very young and I felt like I was away filming all the time…
‘I’d been blessed with these little people and yet I wasn’t really there. I realised I wanted to be at home.’
Despite his spectacular screen success, east London-born Berry said he wasn’t a natural actor.
He said: ‘I was never that comfortable in the spotlight. Some of the egos you can do without. A lot of actors take themselves so seriously but, by and large, you’re getting paid to show off.’
Signed in: At one point, he was rumoured to have been offered a £2 million golden-handcuffs deal by EastEnders executives when he resigned in the late Eighties
Out and about: He looked low-key as he emerged a decade after his screen success
Stepping out: Despite his spectacular screen success, east London-born Berry said he wasn’t a natural actor