JOE Swash has set up a surprising new venture with his famous ex girlfriend’s dad.
His fellow director is the father of another ex EastEnders star and Strictly winner Kara Tointon, 41.
3
Actor Joe, 43, blamed himself for their two-year romance falling apart and was left “kicking himself” every day for losing her.
So it’s all the more astonishing that he would be turning to her father for business guidance 14 years after the pair split up.
Joe has started up the company Big H and Little R Ltd, presumably a nod to his eldest child Harry, 17, and his youngest boy Rex, four, who he shares with his wife Stacey Solomon, 35.
Ken Tointon, 76, is a semi-retired accountant and, judging from filings with Companies House, was giving Joe a helping hand.
He started up the firm but then quit almost immediately.
It’s not known why Joe turned to him as he split with Kara in 2010.
Before the break up, the couple were smitten with Kara stating, “You’ll have to ask him when we’re getting married” – but it appears Joe’s behaviour was the catalyst for the relationship to implode.
He admitted after: “It was all down to me, and nothing to do with Kara. She genuinely does everything right. It was my fault it broke down. I didn’t know what I had until she was gone”.
Despite not working full-time anymore, Ken has found himself in the middle of a scandal involving steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta.
Gupta, once hailed as the “saviour of steel”, has faced mounting legal scrutiny after his GFG Alliance conglomerate was prosecuted by Companies House for failing to file accounts for 76 British companies.
His businesses have also been under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for suspected fraud, fraudulent trading, and money laundering – allegations GFG has denied.
In October 2024, a Financial Times investigation revealed that, as legal pressure intensified, Gupta had turned to Ken to help prepare unaudited financial statements for some of his businesses.
The report highlighted how major auditing firms had refused to work with Gupta’s companies, leaving Tointon to step in – a move that raised eyebrows in the financial world.
A spokesperson for GFG Alliance said at the time: “We appointed Ken Tointon, a third-party qualified accountant, as a restructuring director to some Liberty businesses.
“In his role, he reviewed and formatted internally prepared management accounts into the template required by Companies House.”
Tointon declinined to comment at the time.
Who is Kara Tointon?
KARA shot to fame as Dawn Swann in EastEnders, playing the lovable barmaid from 2005 to 2009.
After leaving Albert Square, she dazzled on Strictly Come Dancing in 2010, winning the Glitterball trophy with pro partner Artem Chigvintsev.
Since then, Kara has enjoyed a successful stage and screen career, starring in West End productions like The Sound of Music and Gaslight.
She’s also appeared in TV dramas including Mr. Selfridge and The Halcyon.
In her personal life, Kara welcomed two sons with her former fiancé, Marius Jensen. The couple reportedly parted ways in 2022.
More recently, she took on Channel 5’s psychological thriller The Teacher, portraying Dani Oxley, a teacher entangled in scandal.
3
3