Roman Kemp has opened up about an 'odd' consequence of having Martin Kemp as his dad, saying it's 'not normal'. His remarks came to light as he discussed his father's role as EastEnders villain Steve Owen between 1998 and 2002, including one unforgettable moment involving an ashtray.
Roman Recalls the Ashtray Scene and Its Aftermath
In the episode, Steve fought with his ex-girlfriend, Saskia Duncan, on the opening night of his Walford club, E20, and hit her over the head with an ashtray in self-defence. Saskia died after the devastating hit, and the scene has been immortalised in Albert Square history. Roman said the storyline even had a strange knock-on effect in real life, as people would tell him his dad was a 'murderer'.
When asked if he could name the character Steve hit, Roman answered correctly. It was then suggested the quiz was a bit too easy. He told The Beth Mead Show: 'Well, no, because you've gone down roots that like, to be fair, because of the popular culture, in it, I only know that because other people were so on it.'
Growing Up with a TV Villain Father
Roman continued: 'Like, and I remember growing up and people being like, "Your dad's a murderer". I was like, "Well, he's not". But, you know...', as he was jokingly asked if he then questioned him. He added: 'Well, 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.'
Roman then explained the different methods, including 'decapitation' and seeing his head 'squished into a million pieces'. He jokingly went on: 'It's not normal for a child to see that.' Apparently, this followed him into school, where he faced classmates saying his dad was a 'murderer'.
Martin Kemp's Real-Life Attack by a Fan
In related news, Martin shed light last year on an incident that left him struggling to breathe after he was attacked by a fan. He recounted the tale on his and Roman's podcast, FFS! My Dad Is Martin Kemp. He said: 'I was punched in the chest once, really hard. Hard enough to stop me breathing, you know when you can't breathe? I was walking down Tottenham Court Road thinking, "Oh yeah, life's good", and I was Steve Owen in EastEnders.'
He continued: 'Tottenham Court Road, on my own, and you know you don't want people to recognise you so I've got my baseball cap on and my head's down a little bit, so my eyes are not looking at what's in front of me and I'm looking down at the pavement. I was walking to Groucho's at the end of Tottenham Court Road and someone walked up to me, completely out of the blue, and said: "Steve Owen, I owe you this," and punched me as hard as they could in the chest, in my ribcage. I could not breathe.'
'All I could do was look up and see them running up the road. Everyone just moved around, avoided it, and I was standing on the pavement struggling for breath because it winded me.'
