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EastEnders legend shares moving reason behind BBC soap return
Ross Kemp has returned to Albert Square as the iconic Grant Mitchell, but this time the actor's decision carries a deeply personal significance. The 61-year-old star, who first appeared on the BBC soap in 1990, has made sporadic comebacks since his original departure in 1999. However, his latest stint, which aired last night, is tied to a poignant dementia storyline involving his on-screen friend Nigel Bates, played by Paul Bradley.
Kemp revealed that the storyline motivated him to return, as it allowed him to honour two people close to his heart: his father, John, who died in October 2025, and his former on-screen mother, Barbara Windsor, both of whom suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Windsor passed away in December 2020. "Returning came with a mixture of excitement and emotional pressure," Kemp said. "I was nervous about letting people down. I thought about Barbara a great deal while being back on set, particularly in the Old Vic, where we spent so much time together. The storyline was the main reason I wanted to come back, and I was delighted when executive producer Ben Wadey asked me to return."
In the episode, Grant returns to Walford to help his brother Phil, played by Steve McFadden, care for their old friend Nigel. However, Grant is furious to discover that Phil has placed Nigel in a care home. The brothers soon come to blows, with Grant shouting, "You're no brother to me!" Kemp expressed his honour at being part of a storyline handled so beautifully by the EastEnders team, alongside McFadden, Bradley, Karen Henthorn, and the rest of the cast.
This marks Kemp's first appearance in EastEnders since the soap's 40th anniversary in February 2025. Prior to that, he briefly reprised his role multiple times throughout 2016 to honour the death of his on-screen mother Peggy, played by Barbara Windsor. Kemp made his debut on the show in 1990 and became one of the most popular characters, thanks to his marriages to Sharon (Letitia Dean) and Tiffany (Martine McCutcheon). He quit the soap in 1999 and returned sporadically in 2005 and 2006.
Kemp has previously refused to rule out ever returning to the soap, saying that he owes the show "a great debt" for giving him a career in television. "It was very good to me, and hopefully I was good to it, and why not keep it that way?" he said on the ITV panel show Loose Women. "I've always believed that you should leave doors swinging rather than shut them."
