Ross Kemp admits being ‘jittery’ before EastEnders return

He’s fought the Taliban in Afghanistan, nearly been set alight by neo-Nazis in Russia, and spent time with the Bloods and the Crips in St. Louis – but none of it compares to the trauma of heading back to Walford.

52-year-old Ross Kemp, who plays Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap, has opened up about his triumphant return to Albert Square to film the scenes surrounding cancer-stricken Walford matriarch Peggy Mitchell’s death.

“I was very nervous going back,” the actor told Good Morning Britain presenters Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway. “There’s a bit more expectation. I first started 25 years ago and now I’ve hopefully got something to live up to.”

Still, any jitters the Walford hardman experienced must have subsided pretty quickly. The soap’s bosses actually managed to persuade him to stay on for an extra three weeks – and he hinted that he’s more than open to returning to the soap in the future.

“I loved going back. They say a change is as good as a break,” he explained. “One minute I’m in Mozambique and three days later I was in the dressing room at Elstree.

“If I got the opportunity to make documentaries and return, then why not?”

The actor also explained that it was actually Dame Barbara Windsor who played the major role in making sure Grant Mitchell made it back into our living rooms.

“We met for dinner with my wife and her husband Scott, and she didn’t put a gun to my head but she may as well have done.”

Yikes! No wonder he was jittery.