Billy Mitchell (EastEnders) revealed in 2006 that the role was extended by "coincidence and chance": "I was offered four episodes and here I am, about 800 later. [...] Ross Kemp (Grant) said that he was leaving, and there was a gap in the Mitchell family, so they brought me back to do stuff towards his leaving. After that they offered me a year." Billy was reintroduced in 1999, making recurring appearances. He was involved in the leaving storyline of Grant Mitchell in October 1999, before returning later in the year as a regular character. When Billy was first introduced, he was depicted as
Ross Kemp was a hairdresser and his father John was a Detective Chief Inspector in the police force. He has one brother, Darren, who is a filmmaker for the BBC. Kemp attended Shenfield High School and the Webber Douglas Academy. On 11 June 2002 Kemp married Rebekah Wade, the then editor of "The Sun". In November 2005 Wade was arrested following an alleged assault on her husband. Kemp refused medical attention for a swollen lip and no action was taken. In March 2009 Kemp and Wade divorced, and in October 2010, Kemp became a father to a baby boy with his partner,