Ross Kemp, known for his bald look, had a full head of hair early in his career, debuting on Emmerdale Farm in 1986 before joining EastEnders in 1990. The Celebrity Traitors star has been a mainstay on British television for decades, but his early on-screen appearances looked completely different.
Early Career and EastEnders Role
Kemp arrived on screen in the late 1980s in various small appearances before landing his signature role of hardman Grant Mitchell in BBC soap EastEnders in his late twenties. As the son of beloved matriarch Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor), he appeared on the programme from 1990 until 2005 and has continued to return for various spells ever since, the most recent of which aired earlier this year.
Away from EastEnders, Kemp has become known for fronting hard-hitting documentaries like Ross Kemp: Behind Bars, Ross Kemp: Mafia and Britain, and also presents the BBC game show Bridge of Lies.
TV Debut and Hair Transformation
When Kemp made his television debut in Emmerdale Farm, as it was known then, he played Graham Lodsworth for a total of 32 episodes and sported a short brown look. His scenes aired from December 1986 until February 1989, and his character came to Beckindale in search of his biological mother Dolly Skilbeck.
Kemp then appeared in an early episode of classic drama London's Burning, where he took on the part of Liver Salts. By the time he arrived on Albert Square, he still had some hair but it was much shorter. By the mid-1990s, he had opted for the clean-shaven look, and it has been that way ever since.
Views on Hair and New Show
Kemp previously insisted that whilst he would like to have hair again, he would never go for a transplant or any kind of cosmetic surgery. In an interview with The Times he said: "This is me. If you don't like it, you know what you can do! I do try and make myself look presentable, which isn't easy with this face. I look in the mirror and think: squashed sultana."
He added: "Do I wish I had a head of hair? Course, but I'd never have hair implants, or plastic surgery to fix this bit under my chin. This is me. If you don't like it, you know what you can do."
On Thursday evening, Kemp will be seen as part of the star-studded lineup of The Celebrity Traitors, joining the likes of Coronation Street legend Julie Hesmondhalgh, Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Love Island host Maya Jama amongst several others. When it comes to his latest stint as part of Claudia Winkleman's hit game show, he admitted that he would quite like people to see him as someone other than his EastEnders alter ego.
He said: "I think if I'm able to stay or survive for a period of time, it would give people an opportunity to see that I'm not just Grant Mitchell or a man that goes around the world confronting people with guns. I think obviously there will be people that will only know me as Grant, and then people may have seen the documentaries, which are often quite brutal. I think people probably think that I don't have any kind of sense of humour whatsoever, which hopefully will come."
