‘Her trouble has always been men’: Inside Gillian Taylforth’s very wild life at 70 as insiders reveal how she’s still a party girl, run-ins with security and very surprising new venture

She was once the most talked about woman in the soap.

Millions of people watched EastEnders star Gillian Taylforth play Albert Square stalwart Kathy Beale, whose rape by wine bar owner James Willmott-Brown became one of the most watched storylines in the soap’s history.

His life was also controversial off camera; The most famous example was in 1992 when Gillian (Gilly among her friends) was caught performing sex acts on her then-fiancee while parked on the A1 byway.

Later, her colorful romantic life included her engagement to drug lord Dave Fairbairn.

Today I can say that at 70 years old, Gillian refuses to ‘give in’ to retirement. According to some sources, it is wilder than ever.

‘Gilly has always been the one to really get the party started,’ says a friend of the star, who continues to appear in EastEnders (after taking a break from the show 15 years ago).

‘Friends and colleagues joke that the party didn’t start until he showed up.

‘Gilly will always be the first on the dance floor and always the last to leave. She is a party girl through and through.

‘There were even times when he was politely told by security to call it quits for the night. ‘He’s so lovely and so much fun to be around that being 70 doesn’t change anything for him.’

While the phrase ‘get out of my pub’ will forever be associated with Albert Square, Gillian has no intention of quitting drinking.

She also played Sergeant Nikki Wright in The Bill. Once, when he was stopped for drink driving and handcuffed, he said: ‘Don’t these look like the plastic ones we used on The Bill?’

He is always one of the last to leave the lavish awards celebrations.

Before celebrating her milestone birthday last year, the actress launched a new skincare brand, Skin GT. Friends say it’s an attempt to make the most of the compliments she’s been receiving for a long time for her seemingly ageless skin.

Documents sent to Companies House and seen by The Daily Mail show Gillian retaining firm control of the brand.

He is named as the sole director of the company, which has a registered address at a modest detached house on a quiet estate in Pinner, north-west London.

But it’s the photos that will surprise and worry Gillian’s fans.

Images of Gillian appear to have been published heavily on both the official GT website and various social media promotions.

There’s no hint that she’s trying to deceive potential customers, but the slightly embarrassing photos suggest Gillian is trying to turn back the clock a little too much rather than aging gracefully.

The GT website emphasizes that the actress herself is directly involved in the creation of products that include cleansers, SPF and serums.

‘Gillian softly launched GT with family, friends and those in the beauty industry,’ a source told me. ‘We have been using social media to build the brand in recent months and hope this will result in sales.

‘Gillian has never been one for social media, but has created a personal and business Instagram account for GT that focuses on gaining followers.’

Accounts for the first year of trading do not mature until March of next year.

Despite her party lifestyle, Gillian looks like the epitome of health.

He has previously boasted about his diet and exercise regime, saying working out gives him an ‘adrenaline rush’. Gillian has a treadmill, rowing machine and Peloton bike at home.

Last year, she launched her skincare brand Skin GT, which friends say is an attempt to make the most of the compliments she’s long received for her ageless skin.

She also talked about the importance of removing her make-up before going to sleep, telling a magazine how, in her twenties, she had to ‘hold on to the sink to take it off’ after wild nights out.

Friends say the soap tycoon’s new business venture is a way of reinventing himself.

‘It really looks like Gilly is living for herself now and it’s lovely to see,’ says a source.

‘He might love a party. All her life she chased men or enjoyed them chasing her. ‘Those who know her often say that her problem is men.’

This was never more striking than when she was accused of performing a public sex act on her fiancé, Geoff Knights.

It was 1992 and the couple, who had two children together, were returning from the races when Knights reportedly received a ‘nudge’.

It was reported in a red cover newspaper that they were stopped by the police.

Gillian and Geoff Knights denied this version of events, claiming the actress had manipulated Knights’ stomach due to abdominal problems, but they were unsuccessful in their bid to sue the newspaper.

He was at the height of his fame at the time and the news went on for weeks.

Gillian’s partnership with the Knights lasted 23 tumultuous years and they eventually split in 2009. Relations subsequently soured and Knights was charged with two offenses of breaching a non-harassment order.

He was accused of harassing and harassing Gillian with calls and text messages. The legal proceedings ended with his death from stomach cancer in 2013.

A year earlier, Gillian had begun a relationship with former stockbroker Dave Fairbairn. There was more than a whiff of argument about him, too.

Fairbairn was jailed for seven years in 2003 for planning to import a huge quantity of ecstasy, described as the largest cache of ecstasy ever seized in the UK.

And in 2015, the actress was banned from driving for two years. When he was stopped and handcuffed, apparently drunk, he told an officer: ‘Don’t these look like the plastic ones we used on The Bill?’

In 1992, Gillian was caught having sex with her then-fiancé Geoff Knights as they parked on the A1 byway.

She is pictured with her on-screen son Ian Beale, played by Adam Woodyatt, with whom Gillian is very close. “He’ll stay with EastEnders as long as they have him,” says a friend

Gillian, who played Sergeant Nikki Wright in the hit TV soap, admitted drink-driving but tried to have her driving ban lifted by claiming she needed her license to take Fairbairn to cancer treatment.

But the court refused and he was disqualified for 24 months, ordered to pay a £3,500 fine plus £720 costs and a £120 government surcharge.

Gillian and Fairbairn called off their engagement in 2017 and split permanently two years later.

Fairbairn was said to have been ‘shaken’ when gangsters who targeted him in 2020 threatened to burn down his house.

Fairbairn was hit in the stomach with a bullet fired at close range when he confronted the criminals near Toby Carvery in Enfield, north London. Luckily it didn’t hit his vital organs.

Gillian first left EastEnders in 2000 but returned in 2015, when she was convicted of drink driving after repeated demands from TV bosses.

During her time away from the soap, she appeared in the scheming roles of Jackie Pascoe in Footballers’ Wives and Sandy Roscoe in Hollyoaks.

‘Coming back is something he’s still grateful for,’ a friend said. ‘He had said no to going back for years, but when he heard they were going to kill him, he was devastated and thought this was the end.

‘Acting and learning scripts with his companions also keeps him young and his mind sharp. He enjoys friendship and is extremely close to EastEnders Letitia Dean and Adam Woodyatt.

‘He’ll stay with EastEnders as long as they have him.’