The Mitchell brother’s emotional reunion will play a major part in Wednesday night’s (February 19) edition of the soap, which will also see a number of characters attempting to escape the Queen Vic following an explosion.
Ross Kemp has revealed that he won’t be in the upcoming EastEnders live episode, saying that Grant is set to depart the soap in the near future.
With the iconic BBC soap celebrating its 40th anniversary this week, Ross has returned to the show for the first time in ten years after Grant was asked to check in on his brother Phil by their old friend Nigel.
Recent weeks have seen Phil struggling with his mental health, with Grant interrupting Phil as he looked set to take his own life with a gun in Tuesday night’s episode (February 18).
The Mitchell brothers’ emotional reunion will play a major part in Wednesday night’s (February 19) edition of the soap, which will also see a number of characters attempting to escape the Queen Vic following a shocking explosion.
However, Ross revealed on ITV’s This Morning that he won’t be in Thursday’s (February 20) live episode as Grant will once again say goodbye to Albert Square.
“That’s the following night. I’m not doing the live because I’m no longer there. I’ve departed. Not in a hearse I hasten to add, nor going to Leicester,” he said.
Speaking to Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond, Ross teased that Grant and his old rival Bianca will forge an “unlikely friendship” in what he called an “unlikely coupling”.
Recent episodes have seen Bianca holding a grudge against Grant, who was married to her best-friend Tiffany during what some fans consider the EastEnders golden era. Sadly, Tiffany died on New Year’s Ever in 1998 during a heated argument with Grant over her attempts to leave him with their daughter Courtney and escape to Spain.
Tiffany lost her life chasing Grant, who snatched Courtney off her, by running directly into the path of Frank Butcher’s car in one of the soap’s saddest moments over its 40-year history.
Explaining his love of EastEnders, Ross said: “The two producers said ‘this is going to change your life’. Me and Steven(McFadden) went ‘no it’s not’. Of course it did. I got the job because I failed a screen test for The Bill.
“I was playing with the handcuffs and I cuffed myself, that went against me. We had scanners in those days with a camera cable going directly into it, I drove off with a cameraman still attached. By trying to kill a cameraman and cuffing myself, I got the part of Grant…
“I owe EastEnders so much, making documentaries and travelling across the world. That was all capitalised by being in EastEnders for 10 years. I owe it a massive amount and it was only fitting that when they asked me to go back I did. I’m proud of it.”
