The Pink Palace from It’s A Sin was a real place and I want to move in right now please

Whilst watching It’s A Sin one thing struck me was how good friends all the main characters are, and how much I want to be living in the Pink Palace with them. Of course, the show teaches us more about the AIDS crisis and other parts of LGBTQ+ history than school ever did, and it’s led to a massive increase in awareness of HIV/AIDS, with four times as many people now ordering HIV home testing kits. It’s A Sin explores the friendships between five young people as they navigate their 20s during the incredibly difficult time of the 1980s AIDS epidemic.

The Pink Palace, where Ritchie and his mates in It’s A Sin live, was actually a real place – and it was where the real life Jill lived. If you didn’t know, Jill in It’s A Sin is based on Jill Nalder. She’s a friend of the show’s creator and behaved much like Jill does in the series, being an incredible ally, taking friends on “endless hospital visits” and helping to raise millions of points for AIDS-related causes.

Jill Nalder is an actress, and appeared in the series, playing Jill’s mum.

She lived in a flat in Hampstead, north London, with some friends. They christened it the Pink Palace, just as Ritchie, Jill, Ash, Roscoe and Colin do in It’s A Sin.

Jill Nalder has said it was “a fabulous flat to find in London in the 80s. There was a lot going on, it was massive freedom for people who came from small communities where there was no tolerance and acceptance of their lifestyle.”

It’s A Sin has been praised for teaching us all what school never did – we’ve learnt about the realities of what it was like to live through the AIDS crisis, been shown the public health campaign adverts, learnt about the homophobic Section 28 law and even been given some gay sex ed.

As well as this, the whole world has fallen in love with Jill; her mum Jill Nalder; sweet baby Colin and Callum Scott Howells who plays him; Olly Alexander who plays Ritchie; and basically just every single other character in the whole show.

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