Michelle Collins

EastEnders newcomer Jamie Bamber, who plays Ned Hawkins on the BBC soap, has teased all about what’s ahead with Nicola Mitchell, and his thoughts on joining the show

EastEnders fans will recognise new recruit Jamie Bamber from huge shows, including BBC ’s Beyond Paradise and US hit Battlestar Galactica.

But as he joins the soap as newcomer Ned Hawkins, Jamie says Walford is one of the most iconic sets he’s ever stepped on in his whole career, which spans nearly 30 years. “Seeing it in person for the first time was a real thrill,” says Jamie, 53.

“What struck me most is how real it feels. It doesn’t feel like a television set at all. It genuinely feels like a place. Because it’s so lived in and familiar, it does a lot of the work for you as an actor.” One part of the famous set in particular has already won his heart.

Jamie tells us: “I love filming in The Queen Vic because it’s where so many characters and storylines collide. As Ned is new to Walford, a lot of his early scenes involve him observing people and taking everything in. The Vic is perfect for that because you get to watch the entire community interact around you.”

With Jamie’s wealth of experience in TV and film, he was surprised to be given a mentor when he started filming. When new cast members join the show, a current cast member is assigned to them as a chaperone, to look out for them while they settle in.

Jamie’s mentor is Ian Beale actor Adam Woodyatt, something Jamie says was incredibly exciting. He tells us: “I’d never experienced getting a mentor before on a job and wondered whether, at my age, it might be a bit late in life to suddenly get a mentor!

“I was genuinely touched because Adam came in on my very first day, despite it being his day off, just to introduce himself. He even stayed to watch my first take to make sure I was okay.” Jamie is joined by other new cast members including Holby City star Patricia Potter, Marian McLoughlin, Anna Constable and Felix Uff, who make up the Hawkins family.

This isn’t Jamie’s first time working with Patricia, who plays his character Ned’s wife Gemma, who is also the sister of existing character Nicola Mitchell. Jamie tells us: “We first crossed paths around 30 years ago when we briefly overlapped at drama school, and then we worked together on my second professional job, The Scarlet Pimpernel.

“I’ve always admired Patricia’s work and energy, so knowing I was coming into the show with someone whose company I already enjoyed made the whole experience much less daunting.” There are plenty of his new co-stars that Jamie has not worked with before though. Starstruck Jamie says filming alongside some of the soap’s biggest icons has left him pinching himself.

“My first scene featured several EastEnders legends, including Letitia Dean, Michelle Collins and Gillian Taylforth,” Jamie reveals. “I was mostly sitting there watching these incredible actors do what they do best. At one point, I genuinely had an out-of-body experience and thought, ‘What am I doing here?’

“These are characters and actors that have been part of British television history for decades. It felt surreal, but also incredibly special.” Ned makes his debut next week, while some of the family have already been onscreen briefly.

Next week, Ned and his wife Gemma head to Walford, followed by Gemma’s mother Rose, her sister Jodie, and Gemma and Ned’s son, Ryder. Ned’s caught in the middle of his sister-in-law Nicola’s feud with her mother Rose, leaving the Hawkins desperate to heal their rift.

We’ll also see Ned reconnect with his old friend Alfie Moon, who owns The Queen Vic with his wife Kat Slater. But while Ned initially appears as the perfect man, Jamie warns upcoming scenes could change this perception for viewers.

“Ned is somebody who appears very put together. He’s enjoyed a great deal of success in life, but when we meet him, everything has fallen apart and he’s having to start again.

“Ned certainly presents himself as the image of the perfect man, and he’s somebody who places a great deal of importance on maintaining appearances. Often, when someone works that hard to keep up appearances, it’s because there’s more going on beneath the surface.

“There’s a real depth to him, and as the weeks go on, we’ll start to peel back those layers and discover that Ned is a far more complex character than he first appears.” Jamie also hints that there is a secret Ned and Nicola are keeping to themselves, that viewers will not be let in on for the time being.

Jamie says: “It’s clear that Ned and Nicola know each other extremely well, but there’s also something unspoken between them. There’s a fascinating push-and-pull dynamic at play. You get the sense that there’s something that binds them together just as strongly as something keeps them apart.

“There are secrets and a history that neither of them is willing to talk about openly. Over time, viewers will discover exactly what lies behind that complicated relationship.”

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok, Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads.

In 2013, Coronation Street aired a dramatic episode which saw some of the residents take part in a Full Monty-style striptease and now one former star has revealed the lengths some actors went to on set

One former Coronation Street actor has recalled the great lengths his co-stars went to to appear in a set of scenes inspired by The Full Monty.

In 2013, the world’s longest-running TV soap aired a dramatic episode which saw the famed Rovers Return Inn go up in flames, but, as it was all going on, some of the Weatherfield lads, including Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) and Karl Munro (John Michie), had been approached to do a striptease as a fundraiser nearby at Nick’s Bistro.

Now, Tony Hirst, who played fireman Paul Kershaw, has recalled that some of his co-stars “stopped drinking water” and hit the gym in a bid to look as in shape as possible.

“I remember doing a Full Monty style scene on Coronation Street where we had to be naked,” he began.

“Some of the younger lads purposefully didn’t drink water for two days beforehand so they wouldn’t be bloated, and others were in the gym, trying to look as buff as possible,” he told The Sun.

Just before the striptease reached its finale, Norris Cole burst in to tell everyone that the pub was on fire.

At the time, the Rovers Return was owned by Stella Price, who was played by EastEnders star Michelle Collins, and Karl was her former partner whom she had thrown out after discovering he had had an affair with Sunita Alahan (Shoba Gulati). She then struck up a relationship with Jason, and tried to frame him by setting the pub ablaze in an attempt to win Stella back.

The blaze resulted in the deaths of Sunita as well as Paul’s colleague Toni Griffiths, and Karl was later sentenced to 25 years in prison for his crimes.

Meanwhile, actor Tony Hirst was first introduced to Coronation Street during the soap’s 50th anniversary in December 2010 and was on the scene when an an explosion destroyed the viaduct and caused a tram to come crashing down onto the backstreet.

Almost a year later, he returned to help Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver) when she got her head stuck in some railings at Underworld factory and quickly became a love interest for him.

It soon transpired that he was actually married to a woman named Lesley (Judy Holt), but she had Alzheimer’s and despite Eileen’s best efforts to look after her, she electrocuted herself when she put a toaster under a running tap.

Following Lesley’s death, Paul and Eileen continued their relationship for more than a year but they called it quits in August 2013 and he departed Weatherfield for good.

Prior to his stint on Coronation Street, Tony played Mike Barnes on Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks. Over the course of his career, he has appeared in Casualty, Holby City and Brassic.

Last year, he played the recurring role of Jerry in Riot Women and also narrates a host of programmes such as How It’s Made and Benefits Street. The soap star recently confirmed that he is now filming new episodes of mystery crime drama Patience for Channel 4.

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