Martin Kemp is already an early I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! fan-favourite with viewers for his Mellow Dad Energy.
On tonight's (Wednesday) episode he spoke about his brain surgery and its long-term effects:
"I’m dyslexic, when I read, all the ends of the words jumble around [...] Mine is from an operation, taking away a brain tumour. For a while I lost everything, I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t see, I was a train wreck afterwards."
But that wasn't the only side effect of the treatment...
Martin revealed that he discovered his brain tumours while working on a show in Canada, when make-up artists spotted a swelling on the back of his head.
Martin Kemp's brain tumours
A subsequent brain scan showed two benign brain tumours that had been growing for 12 years into the bone. 'Benign' is, of course, a relative term when it comes to growths on the brain, and he had them surgically removed in 1995.
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He now has a metal plate in his skull following the surgery and temporarily lost the use of one eye and one leg. His vision and mobility returned, but he has previously revealed that he still suffers from epilepsy as a result of the treatment.
"I live with epilepsy full time — I’ve been on medication now for around 18 years but, with the right treatment, epilepsy can be suppressed — and it is in my case," he told Health Awareness.
"The things that happened to me after my operation resulted from bruising and trauma to the brain and, thank God, most of the effects disappeared. But, obviously, for a lot of people that is not the case and they have to live with that every day."
His experience of the condition led him to become a patron of the Encephalitis Society.
It was just one twist in a long and varied career…
Martin is the younger bother of Gary Kemp and together they formed the backbone (with singer Tony Hadley) of the new romantic band Spandau Ballet.
The brothers were born in north London and Martin attended the Anna Scher drama school (other famous alumni include Kathy Burke and Daniel Kaluuya).
Martin Kemp's Spandau Ballet years
After working as an apprentice printer, Martin joined his brother Gary's band and went on to see success in the early '80s with hits like 'True' and 'Gold'. Some of their songs even had more than one word in the title. They participated in the Band Aid single 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' and Martin went on to marry Shirlie Holliman from fellow pop act Pepsi and Shirlie. (They're still together after 37 years of marriage and have a daughter, Harley Moon, and a son, the DJ and presenter Roman Kemp.)
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The band broke up in the early '90s, and the Kemps pivoted back toward acting, appearing together playing the notorious Kray Twins in the film The Krays. (Tom Hardy would later pull the same trick, only hogging both parts in his case.) The Krays still holds a 82% critical score and 80% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Around this time, Kemp was approached to audition for James Bond, though the role went to Pierce Brosnan.
Martin Kemp's EastEnders role
In 1998, Martin joined the cast of EastEnders as the smooth villain Steve Owen – he was one of the show's most popular characters and spent four years on Albert Square clashing with the Mitchell clan and being a prime suspect in the classic 'Who shot Phil?' storyline of 2001.
His time didn't quite overlap with fellow jungle campmate Shona McGarty, alas.
He has acted on and off since then, and Spandau Ballet reformed in 2009, bringing it full circle for Martin.
In 2019, he released an album of jazz standards with his wife Shirlie, which also included two songs written by their daughter Harley Moon.
Martin Kemp on Gogglebox
Family is very obviously Kemp's priority: he found a late-career resurgence when he joined the cast of Celebrity Gogglebox alongside son Roman, and the pair's relaxed, affectionate banter has proved a huge hit with viewers.
And now he's in the jungle – we predict he'll be a much-loved father figure to the excitable lads' gang that has already formed with his co-stars Aitch, AngryGinge, Eddie and Jack.
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! airs on ITV1 and ITVX daily at 9pm
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Editor, Digital Spy Chris has over 25 years' experience as a writer and editor, having worked as a journalist covering TV and movies since the '90s. Starting out as a TV listings editor at the Press Association, he was quickly hired by the nascent Heat magazine, where he rose to become Senior Editor, interviewing the likes of Simon Cowell, Boris Johnson and Paris Hilton. Over the years he has written about entertainment with clarity and wit for Heat, Elle, Q, The Telegraph and of course Digital Spy, and has served many times as a judge in the Royal Television Society awards. He has written and recorded a novelty single with Lord Lloyd-Webber, written scripts for the National TV Awards, made Noel Edmonds cry, accidentally punched an Inbetweener and stolen a small piece of rubble from the Battle of Hogwarts movie set. (They can't have it back.) LinkedIn
