EastEnders icon Ross Kemp recently made a cameo in the BBC soap, after his character Grant Mitchell rang old flame Sharon Watts.
The actor, who turns 58 years old today (July 21, 2022) rose to fame on EastEnders in 1990 as the tough-talking Grant, alongside on-screen brother Steve McFadden, who plays Phil Mitchell.
Grant's recent call angered Phil, which does not come as a surprise after the two brothers had previously confronted one another on Albert Square throughout the years.
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However off-screen, Ross has also made a number of revelations about his friendship with Steve, after speculations that there was feud between the two.
Here, Daily Star takes a closer look at Ross and Steve's friendship away from EastEnders.
Feud rumours
Ross Kemp and Steve McFadden's characters Grant and Phil Mitchell often came to blows on Albert Square – particularly during the storyline known as "Sharongate".
In 1994, EastEnders fans were left on their edge of their seats after it was revealed that Sharon Watts was having an affair with her brother in law Phil.
Watched by more than 25million viewers, it has since gone down in history as one of the soap's most iconic episodes.
Ross left the soap 12 years later in 2006, and since then, fans have speculated whether the Mitchell brother actors had come to blows off-screen too.
Many fans began to speculate whether there was a real life feud between the two actors, after the two seemingly appeared to be in different rooms from one another at events and were rarely photographed together away from the square.
However, Ross recently shut down these claims when speaking about his return to EastEnders in 2016, telling The Mirror: "It was good to work with Steve again and see Adam [Woodyatt], Tish [Letitia Dean] and other members of the cast [when I was back on the show] last year."
However, he did spill the real reason why he does not like to be in the same room as his on-screen brother in an eye-opening interview with The Sun.
Surprising revelation
Ross revealed in an interview with The Sun that he does not like to be in the same room as Steve away from Albert Square.
While there is no feud between them and the stars are on good terms with one another, Ross made a surprise revelation about the unusual reason why – fan selfies.
Ross told The Sun that he does not like the way the public reacts to them being together in the same room, saying: "Everyone always asks for 'Phil and Grant' selfies."
'Losing touch' with Steve McFadden
Although the Mitchells were a tight knit family on screen and there have been many on-screen reunions throughout the years, Ross has since revealed that he has lost touch with on-screen brother Steve.
When asked if he regularly kept in touch with Steve, he told Metro: "Not really.
"You’ve got to bear in mind that we were in each other’s pockets 24/7 and the Mitchells were colleagues, it’s not your real family."
However, he added that he had great fondness for the late, great Barbara Windsor, who played his mum Peggy Mitchell in the soap – famous for her catchphrase "Get out of my pub!"
"I was very close to Barbara Windsor," said Ross.
"I will always love her and I’m still very close to her husband Scott, he’ll be a friend for life."
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