On-screen, Kemp, as Grant, was often at the centre of EastEnders’ plots, amongst them abusive marriages to Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) and Tiffany Mitchell (Martine McCutcheon), and the “Sharongate” storyline, that saw Grant’s brother Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) conduct an affair with his wife. Kemp announced his departure from the show in April 1999, his last appearance being aired in October 1999 when his character moved to Brazil. Following his initial departure from EastEnders, Kemp moved from the BBC to ITV for a reported £1.2 million. Kemp’s first role for ITV was in Hero of the Hour. A famously hazardous scene was filmed in Compton when gangland junior Matt ‘Malicious’ Ward misfired his gun in a rival gang’s neighbourhood. He has since returned to Afghanistan to film a second series of Ross Kemp in Afghanistan, which began its broadcast on Sky One on February 1, 2009, titled Ross Kemp Return to Afghanistan. in February 2011 his new series Ross Kemp: Extreme World debuted on Sky 1. Ross returns to Afghanistan 10 years after the War in Afghanistan started. On 11 June 2002 Kemp married Rebekah Wade, the then editor of The Sun.
