Roman Kemp has described an "odd" consequence of being the son of Martin Kemp, calling it "not normal." He spoke about his father's portrayal of EastEnders villain Steve Owen from 1998 to 2002, focusing on a memorable scene involving an ashtray.
In the episode, Steve clashed with his ex-girlfriend Saskia Duncan on the opening night of his club E20, hitting her over the head with an ashtray in self-defence. Saskia died from the blow, and the scene became iconic.
'Your Dad's a Murderer'
Roman revealed the storyline had a peculiar real-life impact: people told him his dad was a "murderer." He recalled on The Beth Mead Show: "I remember growing up and people being like, 'Your dad's a murderer'. I was like, 'Well, he's not'."
He added that he only knew the character's victim because "other people were so on it."
Seeing Martin Die in Five Ways
Roman continued: "It was an odd thing, though, because I've seen my dad die in like five different ways, which isn't a normal thing for anyone." He listed methods including "decapitation" and seeing his head "squished into a million pieces." He joked: "It's not normal for a child to see that."
This even carried over to school, where classmates said his dad was a murderer.
Martin Attacked by Fan
In related news, Martin last year recounted being punched by a fan on Tottenham Court Road. On his podcast FFS! My Dad Is Martin Kemp, he said: "I was punched in the chest once, really hard. Hard enough to stop me breathing."
He explained a fan approached him, said "Steve Owen, I owe you this," and punched him in the ribcage. Martin could not breathe and watched the attacker run away while bystanders ignored him.
