Colin Salmon has become a fan favourite among EastEnders viewers as George Knight but some fans may not know he appeared on Strictly Come Dancing and starred in a James Bond movie

Colin Salmon joined the EastEnders cast as George Knight in June 2023 and he has already made a huge impact on the BBC One soap.

The former boxer was reunited with his supposedly deceased wife Rose Knight aka Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) after it emerged she had been living under witness protection for nine years, having faked her death a quarter of a century ago.

Despite an initially awkward reunion, the estranged couple seems to have buried the hatchet and are now neighbours, growing closer on several occasions and have even shared a kiss.

However, George was soon hit with another revelation when his adoptive parents Gloria (Elizabeth Counsell) and Eddie (Christopher Fairbank) arrived in Walford, revealing that he was taken through a process known as farming.

George has since discovered his biological dad was killed by Eddie, who is now in prison, while his real mum had also died only four months before he tried to find her. But in forthcoming EastEnders scenes, George is united with his estranged brothers, but do the siblings hit it off?

As we delve deeper into George’s backstory in upcoming episodes, let’s take a peek at actor Colin’s life off-screen from the BBC One soap.

Colin, 62, is a real East End boy as he hails from Bethnal Green. He launched an acting career in the early 1990s and played DS Robert Oswalde for two episodes of Prime Suspect 2 in 1992, before appearing in Lovejoy.

Following his success playing Sergeant Dennis Ryan in Soldier Soldier, Colin made the transition to feature films, appearing in no fewer than three Bond movies, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, and Die Another Day, playing the role of Charles Robinson.

Over the past three decades, Colin has carved out a very successful acting career starring in a very long list of popular TV series, including Midsomer Murders, Silent Witness, 24: Live Another Day, Law & Order UK, Death in Paradise, Doctor Who, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Judge John Deed, and more.

His other film roles have included: London Has Fallen, Resident Evil, and Blood: The Last Vampire – to name a few. Colin also starred in the tenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with professional dancer Kristina Rihanoff. He was eliminated as a result of the “dance-off” in Week 5, in which he competed against Richard Arnold.

Colin has been married to artist Fiona Hawthorne since 1988, and the couple have four children, Sasha, Rudi, Eden and Ben. Fiona was born in Northern Ireland, grew up in Hong Kong, and lives and works between London and New York, according to her professional website.

Fiona’s delicate drawings have graced the pages of Tatler, the tearooms at Harrods, and she has even had a solo exhibition at The Royal Festival Hall. Her digital portrait of Barack Obama hangs in the Library of Congress.

However, last year Colin opened up about his motivation behind joining EastEnders, revealing that he “can’t be far from home” due to his wife’s illness. Speaking to OK! at an EastEnders event, Colin said his wife’s health problems were a factor in taking on the soap role.