80s heart-throb unrecognisable in stage adaptation of hit TV series

Heartthrob Paul Nicholas won audiences’ hearts in the ’80s sitcom Just Good Friends (Picture: BBC)

Paul Nicholas, aka an 80s hunk, is almost unrecognisable in a very different role to the one in which he rose to fame as heartthrob Vince Pinner.

Now aged 79, Paul rose to fame playing hunky Vince in the sitcom Just Good Friends, which ran for three seasons from 1983 to 1986.

The story of two star-crossed lovers, the BBC sitcom was created by Only Fools and Horses creator John Sullivan, and starred Paul alongside Jan Francis, who played Penny Warrender – the woman he once jilted at the altar.

A chance meeting at the pub five years later leads Vince and Penny to rekindle their romance, with the pair eventually getting married in the show’s final episode.

Paul was quite the stud during his sitcom heyday, with his signature blonde curls and chiselled jawline hinting at the actor’s past as a pop star.

Almost 40 years later and Paul is still performing, taking the limelight in a stage adaptation of Fawlty Towers.

Paul will play the Major in John Cleese’s stage version of Fawlty Towers (Picture: PA Wire) Paul starred alongside Jan Frances in Just Good Friends (Credit: BBC)

Paul will play the bumbling old Major in this new version of the classic BBC sitcom,which is set to start its run at The West End this month.

‘I’m at that stage where Peter Pan is no longer an option,’ Paul joked in an interview with Mail Online. ‘I’m at the age where these kinds of roles come up – I played Colonel Pickering recently and that’s not dissimilar.’

Adapted for the stage by original Basil Fawlty star John Cleese, the show stars Adam Jackson-Smith as the hot-tempered hotel manager, with Anna-Jane Case playing wife Sybil and Paul as the Major.

Paul later appeared on EastEnders as villain Gavin Sullivan (Picture: BBC)

Paul has kept busy since starring in Just Good Friends, appearing in episodes of The Bill, Holby City and Heartbeat.

He appeared as the villainous Gavin Sullivan in 31 episodes of EastEnders, between 2015 to 2016. During this brief but eventful stint on the soap, Gavin returned to the Square as the biological father of Sharon Watts, long thought dead.

Gavin quickly made waves in Walford, kidnapping Phil Mitchell, entering an abusive relationship as the third husband of Kathy Hills, and causing the death of his own sister – before threatening to kill himself and his daughter Sharon and leaving the Square in disgrace.

He was killed off-screen in 2021, to the palpable delight of Sharon and his son, Zack Hudson.

Paul is no stranger to the stage (Picture: PA Wire) Were you a Paul Nicholas fan back in the day?Comment Now

Prior to rising to fame with his screen work, Paul was also a pop star in the 70s and 80s, notching up a number of minor hits during his time – including the song Reggae Like It Used To Be, which peaked at number 17 in 1976.

An accomplished singer, Paul has appeared in stage musicals Grease, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Guys and Dolls.

As recently as 2023, Nicholas appeared in a UK tour of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a precursor to his forthcoming Fawlty Towers role.

Outside of his work on stage and screen, Paul has four children – two from previous relationships, and two with his current wife, Linzi Jennings, who he married in 1984.

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Tags Kerko

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Vince Penny Friends Heartthrob Nicholas Picture Pinner Fools Horses Sullivan Francis Warrender Almost Fawlty Towers Cleese Major Frances Credit Peter Connie Booth Online Colonel Pickering Adapted Basil Jackson Smith Sybil Gavin EastEnders Holby Heartbeat During Square Sharon Watts Walford Mitchell Kathy Hills Hudson Comment Prior Reggae Grease Rocky Horror Dolls Exotic Marigold Hotel Outside Linzi Jennings Metro Submit Stuff

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