AN Eighties sitcom star has popped up on social media and lifted the lid on playing a huge pin-up on retro TV.
Speaking on podcast Woody and Horlock, the former heart-throb, 69, opened up about being one of the most desirable men on the small screen in the 1980s.
The Eighties sitcom legend looks unrecognisable 37 years after starring on the show Credit: Tiktok/@woodyandhorlock
Former heart-throb Peter Howitt was Joey in Bread Credit: Tiktok/@woodyandhorlock
Once bagging over 20 million viewers each week, Bread star Peter Howitt – aka Joey – has revealed what it was like being a massive star.
“It’s hard to believe now. Cast your mind back, close your eyes.
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“Don’t look at me now,” he joked.
“It was weird… It was at that time when there were no recorders. Everyone got round the telly together and watched…
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“In those days there was about 28 million people in the country, or 30 million, so almost the entire country was watching it.
“And then the audition for Bread came up, and as I said, they auditioned loads and loads and loads of people.
“I had that hair colour for something else and you just get a job, or you won’t.
“If I hadn’t got the job as Joey, someone else would have got it and maybe I would have never done anything.
“I would have had a nice acting career, but I would have got fed up with it before it got fed up with me.”
He continued: “I always think, I want to be the one making the decision about what I’m going to do.
The sitcom bagged over 21 million viewers in the Eighties Credit: Getty
Peter was named Best British Director for his romantic comedy Sliding Doors Credit: PA:Press Association
“So even after, because I left Bread before it finished…”
On being replaced by Graham Bickley, he admitted: “I felt sorry for him because he was on a hiding to nothing. He was a nice lad.”
Fans commented: “Bread was never the same when they replaced him.”
A second added: “Joey was the best, I absolutely fell in love with him.”
A third echoed: “I always loved the original Joey, you can tell it’s him. Brilliant show!”
Another confirmed: “I loved Bread, I had a crush on Joey, he was gorgeous!!”
Peter starred in the huge TV hit Bread – seen here in 1989 Credit: Getty
The actor and director left Bread to pursue his career Credit: PA:Press Association
“I remember being soooo in love with him then,” gushed another.
Peter starred as the loveable lothario in Bread – a British sitcom, written and created by Carla Lane – about a working-class family in Liverpool.
The show followed the Catholic Boswell family led by formidable matriarch Nellie, as they navigated life with wit, resourcefulness and dubious means of support in 1980s Britain.
It screened on BBC1 from 1986 to 1991, peaking at 21 million viewers in 1988.
The actor and director went on to write and direct Sliding Doors in 1998, Dangerous Parking in 2007 and Johnny English in 2003.
