WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Nick Berry

In his career, actor Nick Berry moved from the East End to Heartbeat country. So maybe every loser does win.

Nick Berry (b.1963) signed up to acting school as a teenager and would get his big break in a new BBC soap opera, Eastenders, playing Simon ‘Wicksy’ Wicks from the very first episode in 1985 until he left the series five years later. In that time, he also indulged in his other passion of music and in 1986, he recorded the song “Every Loser Wins”, which was co-written with Eastenders title theme composer Simon May. “Every Loser Wins” was featured heavily in the soap and that ensured it was a huge hit when released, topping the UK singles chart for three weeks in October and November and becoming one of the ten best sellers of the year.

That same year, Nick recorded and released his self-titled debut album, although this and the follow up single, “It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time”, were not so successful. Nick returned to Walford and two years after his character left the soap, Nick joined the cast of another new TV series, Heartbeat, set in the 1950’s in the North York Moors. Not only would Nick star in the show, he also sang the title theme, which was a cover of a Buddy Holly 1958 song. “Heartbeat” returned Nick to the UK charts for the first time in six years when it peaked at No.2 and was subsequently used for the duration of the series until it finished in 2010, long after Nick had left in 1998. 1992 saw Nick released his second album, strangely also titled “Nick Berry” (helpful!). This performed much better than the first “Nick Berry” and broke the top 30 while a second single, “Long Live Love” reached No.47.

Nick kept the acting up appearing in the TV series Harbour Lights (1999-2000) and In Deep (2001-03) before he announced his retirement altogether from acting , although he made a one-off guest appearance in Eastenders in 2012 as ‘Wicksy’. He has not recorded anymore albums or singles since 1992 and now appears to enjoy the country life away from the limelight almost unrecognisable from his heart throb persona of the 1980’s and early 90’s. Perhaps for Nick, it should be every winner wins. Happy retirement!