Ross Kemp has disclosed the cunning method by which he would raise his pay while working on EastEnders.
Although the actor who has portrayed Grant Mitchell since 1990 departed the role for the second time in 2006, he just returned in a flashback episode.
Ross, 59, discovered how to raise his wage while portraying his part in the BBC serial opera.
He admitted a cunning ploy in his new book, Take Nothing for Granted: Tales from an Unexpected Life, and was asked to explain how it all worked when he was on Good Morning Britain.
When GMB anchor Susanna Reid asked: “You chose to top up your profits didn’t you?,” Ross first appeared reluctant to divulge anything.
Why bring it up? was his initial response before he went on to describe exactly how he did it.
First of all, he disproved Susanna’s assertion that he accomplished this by “creeping into other people’s shots.”
Ross disagreed, saying “Not necessarily their shots.”
“If you were doing three days in the Vic, which you normally would, I would normally be standing back and I’d work out that I was not in the middle episode that they were shooting that day, and obviously cameras – like the one that’s pointing at me now – have a red light on top of them when they’re recording,” the actor said.
He talked to the folks doing the job behind the scenes as part of his grand strategy.
‘I therefore got along well with the camera crew and would inquire, “Is this episode 235? They would respond “Yes,” “Not 234 or 233.”
“I’m not in that one, but I am now,” would be the response.
Ross imitated his style of narration by asking, “Big Ron, pint and pork scratchings, was it?”
These spontaneous exchanges allowed Ross to make money since the actors received episode fees, which meant that the more episodes they appeared in, the more they were paid.
However, everything nice has to come to an end. They quickly realized who I was, I must admit.
ITV broadcasts Good Morning Britain every day at 6 a.m.