It's A Sin's Jill Nalder on what losing friends to AIDS in the 80s was really like

Watch the full interview with Jill Nalder in the above video

Jill Nalder, one of the real-life inspirations for hit TV show It's A Sin, has opened up to the Acting Prime Minister podcast about what it was really like losing friends to AIDS in the 1980s.

Jill, who inspired the character Jill Baxter in the programme, told podcast host Paul Brand of the hurt caused by losing up to 10 friends to the AIDS epidemic and noticing some disappear after their diagnosis.

"One of our circle of friends disappeared, he actually went home and didn't come back at all," she said.

Jill on losing up to 10 friends to AIDS:

"We'd heard he was in hospital, we heard that he was ill... and then he died very quickly because in the beginning there was absolutely no treatment."

The gay rights campaigner and actor said learning about the virus was "really scary" because it was not clear how it could be transmitted, but she was "absolutely never afraid of diving in for a hug" to comfort her friends.

Asked how many friends she lost to the epidemic, Jill said: "We're talking up to 10 friends, but you know, everyone's got a group of friends haven't they? So my dearest and closest friends, I lost three."

Ms Nalder was also asked how she thinks Prime Minister Boris Johnson would have handled the AIDS epidemic compared to former Tory PM Margaret Thatcher.

Jill on how Boris Johnson would have handled AIDS epidemic:

She said: "I can't see him having handled it brilliantly because there's so many things with Covid that you think 'that could have been handled better'.

"I think it would have all have been a bit crazy and a bit fearful I think - a bit bumbly."

Jill, who plays the mother of her character in the Channel 4 programme, also told the podcast just how "very emotional" it was to watch the story play out on TV and she compares it to what happened in real life.

You can watch to the whole interview with Jill in the video at the top of this page and listen in the player below, or on any good podcast platform.

ITV News is showcasing the lives, legacies and stories of individuals throughout LGBT+ History Month, read more in the series here.

Listen to the Acting Prime Minister podcast here: