EASTENDERS Dotty Cotton could struggle to learn from her parents’ mistakes as she is set for some heart-breaking events.
Actress Milly Zero has teased her character will be at the core of a new addiction storyline on the BBC One soap.
Dotty’s life has been turned upside-down during the festive period following a bombshell revelation.
As she was planning to con Sonia Fowler (portrayed by Natalie Cassidy) alongside Rocky Cotton (Brian Conley), it was revealed to her that the man she thought to be her uncle was actually her biological father.
Up until then, Dotty only had Nick Cotton (John Altman) to rely on as her main father figure throughout her life.
Nick passed away on February 13, 2015.
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Spoilers have confirmed that Dotty struggles with the knowledge Rocky is her dad as she will be found unconscious in upcoming scenes of EastEnders.
But there will be more trouble in store for Dotty, as teased by Milly.
Speaking exclusively to media outlet Digital Spy, Milly said that things will get darker for Dotty as she appears to walk in her parents’ footsteps.
Dotty will set out on a path of self-destruction, unable to cope without drowning her sorrows in alcohol.
“She doesn’t care about herself”, Milly said, adding: “she doesn’t care about her life right now.”
“She’s just trying to destroy everything, because she thinks everything’s broken anyway.”
This is despite her dad Nick’s own past with addiction, as he succumbed to a heroin overdose.
“Dotty has always vowed to herself, ‘I will never be that. That will never be me.’ But then we start to see a little essence of: ‘Oh my God, maybe she could go down the same route as her parents?'”, added Milly.
She continued: “That does happen in real life, sadly. So I think that’s quite an important issue to raise awareness of – like, the child of an addict, and what happens in some cases.”
But while Dotty will struggle with addiction, after being left out in the cold to sleep in the rough, she won’t be alone to face her demons for very long.
Milly has promised that “some of the friends that she does have in the Square come to help her.”
“It’s lucky that she does have those people there. She doesn’t feel valued in the world. She feels that no one’s there for her, and that’s a very lonely place to be.”
Referring to the addiction storyline, Milly then said: “as an actor, I would feel really honoured to explore that topic.”
Either way, “there’s a long road” to go for Dotty.
But while she is thrown into a dark place, will she accept the help given to her?
EastEnders airs on BBC One.
