SOAP SALE Ex-EastEnders star flogs Queen Vic sign and Strictly shoes to raise cash
FORMER Eastenders star Ricky Groves has flogged a range of bizarre items in an auction including a collection of empty perfume bottles.
The actor, who played Gary Hobbs for nine years before he was axed, sold off personal items, props and movie memorabilia collected over the years.
A Queen Vic outdoor sign he salvaged after the pub burned down fetched £200 and a neon sign for Laura’s cafe along with a laminated Laura’s opening times sign sold for £440.
Among the most bizarre items was a pair of Union Jack shorts signed by Olympians Steve Cram and Sally Gunnell which fetched £50.
He also flogged a collection of empty Jean Paul Gautier perfume bottles for £28.
A Mercedes Benz hood ornament from the Mercedes driven down the railway line in Octopussy with a personalised letter from James Bond stunt driver Clive Noy about said hood ornament fetched £190.
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He even sold his Strictly Come Dancing dance shoes he wore on Series 7 along with his Strictly lanyard and a signed framed photo of all the contestants with their dance partners for £42.
Also sold were fly fishing rods, chairs, TV entertainment system (£800), glass wear, a bread bin, a Copeland Spode Wicker Dale tea set and a wicker basket, German WW1 swords, a Paddington Bear set and his coin collection including a Jack Nicklaus Scottish 5 pound banknote.
The eclectic mix of items went under the gavel at Ryedale Auctions, Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire.
Ricky’s character Garry made his Walford debut in 2000 as Lynne Slater’s love interest (played Elaine Lordan).
The mechanic wed and divorced the Slater sister, and went on to have a tumultuous relationship with Dawn Swann (Kara Tointon).
Ricky and Kara departed the soap together back in August 2009, sailing off on a canal boat with her daughter, Summer.