New Casualty star Lee Mead says landing the role helped him get over his marriage heartbreak.
Lee and wife Denise Van Outen announced they had split up last summer after four years of marriage. The couple met when Denise was a judge on talent show Any Dream Will Do, which Lee won in 2007, and they have a young daughter Betsy.
Despite the marriage crumbling, things have been amicable, with Denise saying Lee is still a close friend.
Lee told the Sunday Post: “A break up is a hard time for anybody. But it’s been brilliant to have a big job. It’s meant a lot of 12-hour days and that keeps you busy.
“Denise is the mother of my daughter so it’s very important to remain close. Like any parent it’s important that the child comes first.”
And it’s clear from our chat that Betsy, four this year, very much comes first for Lee. Although Casualty is shot in Cardiff, he makes sure he’s apart from Betsy as little as possible.
“I have a little flat in North London and I get back to Betsy at weekends and more if we have three-day weeks. She hasn’t been to Cardiff yet but I’m hoping over the next few months she can come down and see the cast and the cameras.
“It’s quite sweet actually. At Christmas we got her this little medical centre with a doctor’s coat and stethoscope. She calls me Dr Lofty.”
Lee’s Lofty is actually a nurse, not a doctor, and he makes quite an entrance next week.
He’s a bit of a party boy, hiding out in the loft of student flats his dad owns, and lands a job at A&E after a disastrous encounter which sees Robyn injured.
Lee actually made his TV acting debut as a guest star in Casualty three years back and admits a full-time role is a dream come true.
“This is my first regular acting role,” says Lee. “I’d have been pleased to get that in some kind of daytime series but to have it on a Saturday night BAFTA-winning drama is amazing.
“They called my agent one day and said they had a character in mind so they pretty much wrote the part for me. That’s quite surreal and I was honoured to get that phone call.”
As well as Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Lee had a starring role in other West End productions and music continues to be important.
“I have 20 concert dates this year and it’s great to still be able to go out and sing,” adds Lee. “It’s a big part of my life.”
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