Kellie Bright has risen to fame over the years for various roles but she’s best known for her iconic character Linda Carter in EastEnders
EastEnders’ Linda Carter has been having quite the time of it as she’s facing blackmail after the killing of Keanu Taylor in the explosive Christmas storyline.
The much-loved Queen Vic landlady has been finding life in the Square traumatic in recent months. Linda, played by Kellie Bright is already struggling with her guilt at accidentally killing Keanu, which has been made worse by Dean Wicks, played by Matt Di Angelo making sure she’s as unnerved as possible.
Linda pinned the blame on Dean to protect her best friend Sharon, who was one the police’s main suspects for a time, and placed him at the scene of the crime on Christmas but now things have finally come to a head in the long running storyline. However, away from Albert Square, things are much calmer for actress Kellie.
After first finding fame as a teen actress in hit sitcom, The Upper Hand, she quickly became a fan favourite when she joined the cast of EastEnders. Kellie also earned an army of new fans when she appeared on Strictly Come Dancing back in 2015 when she was partnered with Kevin Clifton and reached the final of the hit BBC show.
Kellie married Paul in 2014 and they have appeared on Pointless together (Image: ITV)
Kellie has been happily married to her husband for 10 years and has opened up about her real life age gap romance with her Hollywood husband. Despite being so well-known herself, the 48-year-old has worked alongside her husband Paul Stocker before, with the pair both having successful acting careers. Kellie is married to Paul who is seven years younger than her and the pair have even shared the screen on EastEnders. Paul, 41 and Kellie, first met when she was 31 and he was 24 before they later tied the knot back in 2014. The pair went on to welcome their first baby together in August 2021 and they are now parents to three children together. Fans got to see Paul on an episode of the BBC soap in 2021.
The scene followed Linda, who is played by Kellie, as she was attacked while the Queen Vic was being robbed. However, because it was filmed during the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing rules were in place, Kellie couldn’t get close to her co-stars. But, the show managed to get around this as they hired Paul to play one of the thugs so they could film scenes which included physical interaction with Kellie. Paul and Kellie share children Freddy, Gene and Rudy who they welcomes via IVF. Kellie opened up in 2016 about how she had her husband briefly split before having children due to the age gap between them. She told OK!: “Reality kicked in. I was 31 and wanted to have kids, and Paul was 24 and didn’t at the time. I felt it wasn’t fair on Paul – I worried he’d resent me.”
Paul was in EastEnders with Kellie (Image: BBC)
However, their time apart didn’t last long and the couple soon came back together. She added: “After a bit of head space, I realised I was cutting my nose to spite my face. I thought – what are you doing? Take your foot off the gas.” Paul has forged a successful acting career for himself. He first came into the spotlight in 2007 when he starred as a solider in the 2007 film Atonement alongside Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. In 2016 he had another role in EastEnders as DS Howard South who questioned Bobby Beale following the attack on his adoptive mother Jane He also played a Guard Solider in the BAFTA-winning film Mark of Cain in 2007. Paul has also had various roles on stage, with productions including The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time as Mr Thompson and Six Degrees of Separation.
