The EastEnders icon once had a very normal job before landing her Linda Carter role. She has since risen in the ranks to become one of the show’s most legendary characters
For more than a decade, Linda Carter has been a jewel in Walford’s crown and is currently caught up in a murder plot that has gripped EastEnders viewers since February 2013.
As fans of the long running BBC soap will know, Linda killed Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) on Christmas Day 2023 and has so far framed Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) for the cold-blooded crime.
But being the matriarch of the Carter family, Linda has really gone through the drama mill since stepping foot in the square back in 2013. She’s suffered with alcohol addiction, been a victim of a terrible sexual assault, had a fling with Max Branning (Jake Wood) – plus she’s also now a killer.
Actress Kellie Bright portrays Linda Carter on EastEnders, and away from the bright lights of Walford, the star lives a quiet life with her husband and three children. She’s also starred in some popular TV shows including an Only Fools and Horses spin-off.
The 48-year-old, who is from Brentwood in Essex, has been acting since she was 11. She trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School in Central London, befriending Spice Girls member Emma Bunton.
She took up roles as a child actress in T-Bag, on CITV, and Maid Marian and her Merry Men, another children’s TV programme broadcast on BBC1. Kellie starred in the sitcom, The Upper Hand, from age 13, playing Joannam and has previously spoken about getting rejected from roles and struggling to make ends meet.
She previously told The Daily Record: “I was getting rejected from one job after another and no matter how much I tried not to take it personally, a part of me couldn’t help but think ‘I was too ugly to get that part’.”
When The Upper Hand ended, Kellie turned to waitressing: “I had just spent all my money from The Upper Hand on my first flat. I didn’t have any acting work, so I got a job waiting on tables to pay the mortgage, but it was while The Upper Hand was still on air.
“Next thing I know, a customer had called a newspaper saying I was there and some photographers appeared out of the blue snapping away.”
Kellie has also taken up roles in Radio 4’s long-running drama, The Archers, Cassie Tyler in the hit series Bad Girls in 2002, Julie in the movie Ali G In Da House (2002), Lisa Squire in The House That Jack Built (2002), and WPC Penny Collins in Jericho (2005) – plus many more.
In 2010, she appeared in the Only Fools and Horses prequel, Rock And Chips. She played the part of Joan Trotter who is the mum to Del Boy and Rodney Trotter, and followed her story before her youngest son was born.
Kellie was then cast in EastEnders as Linda Carter in 2013 and has been an adored character ever since.
Family life
Kellie married her husband Paul Stocker in Cornwall in 2014. The couple have three sons including Freddie born in 2011, Gene born in 2016 and they welcomed Rudy in 2021.
Paul is also an actor, having starred in Atonement with James McAvoy and Keira Knightley. He’s also appeared in The Mark of Cain and Scent of a Woman.
The dad-of-three joined his wife in EastEnders as DS Howard South in 2016. Paul made his second appearance in EastEnders in 2021 playing a thug who robbed The Queen Vic.
Kellie met her husband Paul when they were starring in a play together, he was just 24 and she was 31.
After meeting Paul for the first time, Kellie had reservations about their seven-year age gap.
speaking to OK! Magazine, Kellie said: “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.”
Fast forward to 2024 and the couple are now a happy family of five.
EastEnders airs Monday – Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
