EastEnders’ Phil star is ‘alpha on set’ and branded co-star mad for joining soap

EastEnders star Colin Salmon revealed Steve McFadden called him "mad" during an hour long phone call they shared.

The actor, 61, is set to make his debut as George Knight alongside daughters Gina and Anna, played by Francesca Henry and Strictly Come Dancing star Molly Rainford.

The family will be joining Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) and Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) to help run The Queen Vic and will arrive in the square on June 1.

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When a new actor arrives on the BBC soap, they are given an existing actor as a mentor and Colin revealed he was paired up with Steve, who has played Phil Mitchell since 1990.

Sharing what advice the 64-year-old gave him, Colin exclusively told Daily Star and other press: "Just get it done. Steve comes on set and he's ready. Steve's there and he's the boss. He's the alpha.

"But he's there on the sofa's smiling and chatting with everybody else, it's not like he's distant or anything like that. We had an hour phone call and I think the opening line was, 'You're mad'.

Closely followed by, 'Get a bike,' because that way you can get in and out quite easily."

The James Bond star admitted he quickly found common ground with the men on set because they all share close bonds with their families.

Colin added: "And then we just spoke about that I'm a family man. And that's Steve and Scott [Maslen] and everybody on it, all the men.

"What's really exciting is that the conversations are just so refreshing and it's not that nonsense and that's really important because women run this show.

"So you'd be an idiot to behave in that sort of manner. So it's quite refreshing and really fun.

Molly, 22, revealed her mentor is Martin Fowler star James Bye, who she first met on Strictly in 2022.

"Every time I see him in the corridor I think, 'Should I be learning scripts or should I be Cha Cha-ing or working on my frame?'" she laughed.

The BGT star added: "I think we're so lucky to be in The Vic because we've met so many people, as in cast but also characters, so it gets us pretty welcomed very quickly and they're such a lovely bunch."

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