Ross Kemp ignoring 'snob factor' over gameshow he ‘wouldn’t have considered five years ago’

TV hard man Ross Kemp will leave gritty documentaries and a tough soap role behind next week as he begins hosting a daytime quiz show.

Kemp, 57, is best known for playing Grant Mitchell in EastEnders and then went on to present a series of hard-hitting documentaries including Ross Kemp on Gangs, but it about to take a new direction heading up an afternoon gameshow for BBC One with Bridge of Lies.

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Speaking to the Radio Times, he admitted he was expecting some snobbery about his new role, but was looking forward to proving the doubters wrong.

He said: "I probably wouldn't have considered it five, six years ago. But the landscape has completely changed in terms of content now and as it changes, you've got to adapt too.

"There is a snob factor probably from some people. That's entirely up to them. I don't really care what people think. If I think it's good, then that's good enough for me."

Kemp also added that his decision to take on a gameshow hosting role was in part to prove that he wasn't a one trick pony when it came to TV work.

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He said: "I knew there'd be people saying, 'Ross Kemp can only do documentaries', or 'he can only be Grant Mitchell' – so it's a little challenge to Kemp, in his dotage, to see if he can do this."

Bridge of Lies sees teams of contestants faced with general knowledge questions that they need to answer correctly to be able to make it across a bridge to a cash prize.

Kemp has previously said that he researched how to be a quiz host by looking at what other famous quizmasters did to try to find his own groove.

Talking about his presenting style, gameshow newbie Kemp said: "I watched lots of current quiz show hosts, like Alexander Armstrong and Bradley Walsh, as well as some icons like Brucie [Bruce Forsyth] during my research, and my main takeaway from that was: if you want to be successful in this role, you’ve just got to be yourself."

Bridge of Lies begins on Monday, 14 March at 4.30pm on BBC One.

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