Legendary soap star Ricky Groves will take a seat in the famous black chair as he participates in BBC One's Celebrity Mastermind on Saturday evening (March 25). The 54-year-old shot to fame when he arrived as mechanic Garry Hobbs in EastEnders back in 2000 where he stayed for nine years.
During the actor's Walford days, a real-life romance blossomed on the set of the BBC soap when Ricky met Laura Beale actress, Hannah Waterman. The pair were involved in a dramatic storyline in 2002 when the characters had a drunken one-night stand, after which Laura told Garry she was pregnant with his child.
However, fans later discovered that the child actually belonged to Laura's husband, the timeless Ian Beale. Like Ricky, Hannah first appeared in EastEnders in 2000 and while it is not known when they first became a couple, the co-stars got engaged in 2005 and before getting married in 2006.
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But their happily ever after was not meant to be, as the soap couple parted ways less than four years later. Ricky said he was left heartbroken when Hannah told him she wanted to end their marriage.
At the time, Ricky reportedly blamed Hannah's decision on an "obsession" with her newfound weight loss. But Hannah, daughter to actor Dennis Waterman and actress Patricia Maynard, was quick to pour cold water on those claims.
She previously told the Mirror Online: "The idea we split up and our marriage broke down just because I lost a couple of stones 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."
And unknown to her then, Hannah was actually battling an underlying health condition, as reported by OK.
"I was eating tons, and I wasn't overdoing the exercise – I was training only three times a week. But I just kept losing weight. And if I looked exhausted, well, I was. But I just put it down to stress," she's since explained.
Hannah said she was suffering the side effects of undiagnosed type 1 diabetes. "I wish I had known it at the time – I could have told the world, 'Back off – I’m ill'," she has since said about her diagnosis.
Hannah is now married to now happily married to actor Huw Higginson. In the past, Ricky has admitted that it took him a while to be happy again, however, the TV star has since found love again and is married to his wife Kay Russel.
After departing from EastEnders in 2009, Ricky went on star in Doctor Who: Thin Ice and Crime of the Century as provided the voice of Markus Creevy. He also appeared in the series Crime Stories, Going Forward, and The Tab Theory, plus starred in the film Two Days in the Smoke.
In 2009 Ricky Groves partnered Erin Boag in Strictly Come Dancing and was voted off in week 10. In 2010, Ricky was partnered with Alex Ferns in Celebrity Coach Trip and cooked up a storm on Celebrity Masterchef in 2012. On New Year's Eve 2015, he won Celebrity Come Dine With Me alongside Kay, and has also taken part in various pantomimes over the years.
Ricky is starring on BBC One's Celebrity Mastermind on Saturday, March 25.
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