EastEnders is marking its 40th anniversary with a one-off live special, where fans will finally find out who of those trapped inside the burning Queen Vic will make it out alive and who will perish.
It’s not the first time that EastEnders has tackled a live episode, with the BBC soap revealing Lucy Beale’s killer during the show’s 30th anniversary back in 2015.
Now, KISS radio presenter Sam Darlaston has revealed how he secretly played a small role in that storyline before finding success in a completely different career.
While Lucy’s half brother Bobby was revealed to be Lucy’s killer, Ben Mitchell (Harry Reid) was brought in as a suspect after being spotted burying Lucy’s belongings in an allotment. In one scene, a witness is looking through a digital line-up to identify Ben, while radio DJ Sam, 31, plays one of the Ben lookalikes.
“I was cast as a lookalike to be in a scene when Ben Mitchell was in prison. I was sat in a room and directed to put on a pair of glasses that were too small for my head,” he told The Mirror in an exclusive interview. “Weirdly enough, I kept in touch with them and three months later, I also appeared in a call centre scene as one of Lee Carter’s (Danny Hatchard) bullies.”
Sam – who is now a presenter on KISS FM and a continuity announcer on Channel 4 – admitted that he originally thought he was a stand-in for Ben Mitchell actor Harry Reid on the show. “I’ve dined out on it for years. It’s a good ice breaker. I had it on my Hinge profile at one point.”
While Sam originally trained to be an actor, he pivoted into radio presenting after winning a competition to be on Kiss Fresh, and eventually went onto host KISS’s weekend breakfast show. He’s since run into one of his former co-stars Danielle Harold, who is a regular listener of his show.
“Danielle Harold, who played Lola Pearce, listens to my show on the weekends so she’s actually a regular on the show,” he said.
While he’s now a broadcaster and podcaster, hosting a new show Embarrassing for No Reason with fellow DJ Tatum McGreal, Sam is still a massive fan and wouldn’t say no to another EastEnders cameo.
“I would absolutely love to go back. I did train in acting for a long time and it’s definitely something that’s on my radar. I would love to be in EastEnders – but I’d have to work on the accent,” said Sam, who is from the Midlands.
EastEnders airs tonight at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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