EastEnders star Tameka Empson couldn’t help but smile as she discussed working with Phil Mitchell star Steve McFadden, revealing that she ‘makes him blush all the time’.
The actress, who plays Kim Fox on the BBC One soap, reflected on her 15 years in Walford thus far and confirmed that the now iconic moment in which Phil delivered her character’s baby is a personal highlight.
‘Do me a favour – we couldn’t stop laughing that day!,’ she told Metro.co.uk in an exclusive chat. ‘I think people think Steve is a very straight guy, do you know what I mean? But I make him blush all the time.
‘I don’t know, maybe he likes me, maybe he fancies me,’ laughed Tameka, ‘there’s something going on.’
Could she be any more iconic?
The answer is yes as, when asked if she was upset about not being a part of The Six story, which saw six of Walford’s most iconic women including Kim’s sister Denise Fox, cover up a murder, Tameka said: ‘Well, let me tell you, they said, “Six”, I said, “Seven?” And they said, “No” and I said, “OK.”
Tameka, 46, was full of praise for the BBC One soap’s critically acclaimed festive offering, telling us that she was ‘hooked’ as she branded the episode ‘brilliant.’
‘But where does it go from here?,’ she pondered, and that really is the question, with the six women in question doing everything they can to keep their crime a secret.
With Kim currently off on a cruise, Tameka has taken some time away from EastEnders to star in a revival of The Big Life.
‘It’s a musical like no other,’ enthused the soap star. ‘It’s centred around these four Caribbean men who come to the UK on the Windrush after the Second World War. They’ve made a pact saying, “OK, no women, no alcohol, we’re just going to make a life for ourselves.”And of course, one by one, they break the contract and fall in love, and everything else happens. It gives the story of the Windrush generation’s hopes and dreams and what actually happened when they got to this country. They weren’t always well received.
‘But having said that, it’s not a show of doom and gloom – it really celebrates the music of the Caribbean, and the people who came from its different islands.’The Big Life is at Theatre Royal Stratford East, London, until Mar 30, stratfordeast.com
Let’s face it, award winning DJ and singer-songwriter Calvin Harris could’ve had anybody perform at his wedding (he could’ve probably done it himself) – but he chose Ross Kemp instead.
The Scots performer, known for his work with megastars Dua Lipa, Ellie Goulding and Sam Smith, married BBC Radio 1 presenter Vick Hope last September.
She had joked in the past about rejecting him several times over the years, but the pair reportedly hit it off in 2022 and tied the knot just over a year later.
The couple were wed in a lavish ceremony, complete with Glastonbury themed afterparty in Hulme Priory, Alnwick, Northumberland.
Yesterday (13th March), she hosted her show live from the MediaCity piazza in Salford, Greater Manchester, as she cheered on co-presenter Mollie King for taking part in a 311 mile cycling challenge across the UK for Comic Relief.
As the star made her way into their temporary studio, Vick played a short good luck message from EastEnders star Ross.
‘Mollie, it’s Ross here. I just wanna wish you all the best on your challenge, keep pedalling’ he said.
Having played former Queen Vic landlord Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap intermittently for thirty two years, you’d think perhaps his talents would lie in pulling pints, but Vick explained the unique job she employed him for at her wedding reception.
‘The team did point out Vick, you could’ve had the world’s most famous DJ very easily, but you decided to go with Grant from EastEnders instead’ explained presenter Katie Thistleton.
Newest R1 recruit Jamie Laing chirped in, adding: ‘to be fair guys, that’s a big booking.’
To be fair to Ross, he isn’t the only former Albert Square icon to be spinning discs, as Patsy Palmer, who played Bianca Jackson, has turned her hand to it in recent years.
