BOLTON soap sex symbol Paul Nicholls today revealed that he paid a high price for his success in EastEnders.

TV viewers will tonight see Paul's character in cop drama City Central Terry Sydenham killed off when he is blasted with a shotgun.

But the 19-year-old from Smithills reveals in a national newspaper that there was a downside to becoming a household name playing the tortured teenager Joe Wicks in EastEnders and success made him paranoid.

"EastEnders was a lovely role for me and a huge break. But it caused a lot of negativity within myself - I've still got certain paranoias about it now," says Paul.

"I didn't know if people were interested in me because of who I am or who I was on the show. I didn't know if people wanted me for my acting ability or just because of my looks. It was hard to take in."

But older and wiser, Paul has come to terms with his fame and is getting on with his life and explained why he is leaving City Central.

He said: "I decided early on I didn't want to commit myself to another long-running series, no matter how good it was.

"I didn't want to play the same character for another six months, it was as simple as that. I knew the producers wanted me for the start of this series so I agreed to that. I didn't want to move on career-wise necessarily. I'm only 19, I want to try and do as many different roles as possible." And some good news for his teenage fans - Paul, who was linked with actress Rebecca Callard last year - has revealed that he's on the look out for love.

"I am looking for a girlfriend," he admits. "Screaming girls used to wait around for me. But all they saw was Joe Wicks - not Paul Nicholls."

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