| The Sun Interview 1 |
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| He is one of telly’s biggest stars and a former chart topper. But Martin Kemp has much more than to be thankful about than his success. Seven years ago the ex-EastEnder stared death in the face when he developed two life-threatening brain tumours. Yet rather than being haunted by the experiences, Martin reckons they may have been the best things that happened to him. The former bass player in Eighties group Spandau Ballet says: “It was a horrific time of my life but it’s something I learned a lot from and would not want to swop. I’m glad it happened. “The tumours were benign — but they could quite easily have been cancerous. There was a gigantic possibility I could have died. But the two tumours were dealt with and taken out and that’s it. “It’s given me another side to my personality I don’t think I would have had otherwise. I always used to be in a rush to get to the next stage. I always wanted to be better off than I was. “Now I appreciate what I have. Looking back on it now, I’d say it’s the luckiest thing that has ever happened to me. “I get a big kick from the letters I receive or the people I meet when I go round hospitals who are going through the same thing, because I can show them they can come through it. |
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| Martin and Stephanie Daddy's Girl - ITV |
| Martin has since had the all-clear and is now in the best of health. After his recovery he went on to land the huge role of Albert Square villain Steve Owen, making him one of Britain’s favourite stars alongside screen wife Tamzin Outhwaite. His protrayal won him a string of top awards, including Best Actor at the British Soap Awards in both 2001 and 2002 and Most Popular Actor at the 2000 National Television Awards. Yet in March, at the peak of his popularity, he quit. But although it may have come as a huge shock to his fans, there was never any doubt in Martin’s mind that the timing was right. He says: “When I first started I gave myself three years to make an impression that would leave a dent in the show if Steve was written out. “Hopefully I did that. I’ve never had a twinge of regret. I’d reached the point where Steve had gone round the Square three times in the same storyline in different disguises. “I wanted Steve to be a real person. He was for a long time but towards the end he started to become caricatured.” It may also have helped that he was lured away from EastEnders by an ITV1 deal said be worth £1.5million. Martin will not let the pressure of being a big-money star stop him from enjoying his new projects — the first of which is the tense one-off thriller Daddy’s Girl. The actor, who is married to former Wham! backing singer Shirley Holliman, says: “ITV is great for drama. I’m in the right place and I don’t worry any more about what the future holds.” In Daddy’s girl he plays landscape gardener Chris Cooper, who is left to bring up his daughter Emma (played by Stephanie Leonidas) single-handedly after his wife disappears. But ten years later, when Emma is 17, she starts to suspect her father has murdered her mum. |