EastEnders’ Tony Clay reveals dad spent two months in hospital with coronavirus as he opens up about ‘hard’ lockdown

EASTENDERS' Tony Clay reveals he's suffered a "hard time" in lockdown, with his dad spending two months in hospital with coronavirus.

The 28-year-old actor opened up about his family's heartache during tonight's episode of Secrets of the Square with Stacey Dooley.

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Tony, who plays Callum in the BBC One soap, appeared alongside Max Bowden, who stars as his on-screen boyfriend Ben Mitchell.

Speaking at the start of the episode, Tony admitted that lockdown has been difficult for him.

He explained: "It's been a bit of a strange time for me, my dad was hospitalised with the coronavirus.

"Two months in hospital, three different hospitals - it was just a hard, hard time.

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"On my dad and on my family. And the nation really, going through this."

Host Stacey asked if his dad was on the mend now, with Tony replying: "He is, he's finally home so I'm very, very, very happy - and a bit overwhelmed by it all."

Secrets of the Square sees popular EastEnders cast members join Stacey on the Walford set for socially-distanced chats about their time on the show.

Previous episodes have included Danny Dyer and Kellie Bright, and Ian Woodyatt and Letitita Dean.

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The episodes air every Monday evening, filling one of the gaps after the soap was forced off air last month due to lockdown.

Despite halving the amount of weekly shows when production ground to a halt back in March, EastEnders ran out of pre-recorded episodes.

They now air Stacey's special behind-the-scenes series on Monday evenings, and an iconic vintage episode on Tuesdays.

It was previously promised that the popular soap will return to our screens in September, with four 20-minute episodes a week.