Annette Badland received death threats due to her villainous EastEnders character Aunt Babe
Annette Badland played villain Aunt Babe on EastEnders from 2014 to 2017, but some fans failed to separate the actress from the character leading to her receiving death threats.
Annette Badland was warned to stay at home and share nothing about her life on social media after the BBC received legitimate death threats due to the villainous behaviour of her EastEnders character Aunt Babe.
Annette's alter ego, Aunt Babe, was introduced in 2014 as the great-aunt to Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) and maternal aunt to Shirley Carter (Linda Henry) and Tina Carter (Luisa Bradshaw-White).
But behind Aunt Babe's sweet and vulnerable facade, her true evil character was exposed with her blackmailing, manipulative and scheming antics leading to the Carters booting her out of the Queen Vic Pub before she "cursed" them to lose the pub in 2017.
Some fans of the BBC soap failed to separate Annette from her character and fired abuse at the actress.
The corporation became concerned for her safety, advising Annette to avoid going out unless necessary, and to keep her whereabouts private.
On the latest episode of 5's A Night in with Sally Lindsay videocast, Annette told how EastEnders bosses ramped up Aunt Babe's "villainy" because she was leaving.
She said: "I had death threats. The call from BBC security saying, 'We're getting death threats.'
"And they worked for the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. So they said, 'There are red alert code words in this. So we have to take it seriously.'"
Former Coronation Street star and videocast host Sally, 53, was shocked by the admission, and questioned what impact the harrowing abuse had on Annette's life.
Annette replied: "They said, 'Just don't go out. Don't tell people where you're going. No social media.'"
The Ted Lasso star said investigators spent "about a month to six weeks" trying to trace the source of the abuse, eventually discovering it came from a "school just outside Liverpool".
However, she stressed that it "wasn't a child" behind the keyboard.
Annette said: "Because it was a public computer, they didn't feel they could get much further."
Despite the ordeal, the performer has previously said she would be up for making a return to EastEnders.
Appearing on a 2024 episode of ITV's Loose Women, Annette said: "I would go back for a story, but I wouldn't go for a long journey."
