EastEnders icon Ricky Groves played Garry Hobbs in the BBC soap for nine years – but the 56-year-old actor has been spotted doing a very different job now
An EastEnders legend is doing a very different job these days 15 years after his exit.
Ricky Groves played Garry Hobbs in the BBC soap from 2000 to 2009. He was involved in some huge storylines, including his on-off relationship with Lynne Slater, which ended when their baby Vivienne was sadly stillborn after being born by an emergency caesarean following a fairground accident.
After the heartbreaking loss, he had a near-fatal suicide attempt, only to be rescued by his close pal Minty. But Garry’s exit from the square came when he and Dawn Swann, played by Kara Tointon, got together and decided to start a new life elsewhere, leading to their characters being written off.
Though the door has been left open for Ricky to potentially return, the now 56-year-old – who went on to star as one of the celebs in Strictly Come Dancing in 2009 – was recently spotted promoting products on retailer Must Have Ideas UK’s social media channels.
In the Instagram clip, Ricky is helping to sell mould remover. Demonstrating how it works, he tells potential customers: “Want to get rid of mould once and for all? Mould Magic Extreme. Check this out. It’s got a specially patented formula that actually sticks to the wall. Unlike sprays, they don’t do the job.”
Turning on his salesman charm, Ricky continued: “Don’t believe me? Look at some of our customer’s results. Mould in the bathroom, there you go, where’s it gone? It’s gone. What about that wallpaper? No more mould! Washing machine – you’re going to save yourself a fortune. You get two in a pack. Click the link below to order yours.”
Though he’s been away from the spotlight for a few years, Ricky recently caught up with some of his EastEnders co-stars. The actor was seen hanging out with Jamie Borthwick, who plays Jay Brown on the soap, in September. The pair had a mini-reunion ahead of Jamie strutting his stuff on this year’s Strictly, where he is partnered with pro dancer Michelle Tsiakkas. Sharing the snap to his Instagram stories, Jamie captioned the post: ‘Legend.’
And Ricky looks pretty much the same 15 years on from leaving EastEnders. Off-screen, Ricky was married to his former EastEnders co-star Hannah Waterman, who played Laura Beale. The pair first met on set and tied the knot in 2006. But their happily ever after was not meant to be, as the soap couple parted ways just four years later.
On New Year’s Eve 2009, Hannah dropped the bombshell that she’d had an affair, and consequently no longer wanted in on their marriage. Ricky was left heartbroken at the news, especially because he didn’t see it coming. He admitted: “It took me a long, long time to get over what happened. It was the lowest I’ve ever been. It was the clinical way it was done. I wish she had let me down gently, but I suppose there is no easy way to leave someone.”
At first, Ricky shifted blame on Hannah’s “obsession” with her incredible weight loss. After dropping three stone, it was speculated this was what had spurred on their break-up. But Hannah told Mirror Online: “The idea we split up and our marriage broke down just because I lost a couple of stone is ridiculous.
“There’s always going to be more than one reason why a couple splits up, but those reasons are between us. Ricky knows what happened, and so do I. To think I lost weight, I turned horrible, I dumped my husband, is stupid.”
Hannah blamed not being suited for married life on the reason behind the couple’s shock split. Soon after the split, Hannah settled down with actor Huw Higginson, with whom she shares a son. While Ricky found love again with Kay Russell, who he married in 2015.
