EastEnders’ legend attacked in street and left ‘struggling to breathe’ over role

An EastEnders icon was left “struggling to breathe” after being randomly attacked on the street.

Martin Kemp, 63, has been looking back at his life in recent months, recounting the “make or break” moment that nearly ended things with his darling wife Shirlie. He also spoke candidly with son Roman about his own mortality and revealed he thinks he has about ten years left before he d.i.e.s.

But in a recent chat between the father and son, Martin admitted that he was the victim of an unprovoked assault. When he found out why he was attacked, it was revealed that the reason was due to his time on Albert Square.

Longtime bassist for Spandau Ballet, Martin took on the role of evil businessman Steve Owen from 1998 to 2002. In the four years he graced the streets of Walford, Martin became the ultimate baddie, going on to kill his former lover Saskia Duncan – as well as becoming sworn enemies with the Mitchell brothers.

Martin Kemp became notorious baddie Steve Owen when he stepped onto Albert Square from 1998 to 2002(Image: BBC)

But speaking with Roman on his podcast, FFS! My Dad is Martin Kemp, the performer admitted that he was nothing like his character in real life. He then explained he realised the time had come for him to leave the Square when he was “punched in the chest” over his evil role.

Recalling the experience, Martin said: “I was punched in the chest once, really hard. Hard enough to stop me breathing, you know when you can’t breathe?”

Martin explained that one day he had been travelling down Tottenham Court Road, and – due to his high profile of being a soap villain – was trying to keep himself hidden. He had been walking along the end of the road, when someone approached him.

He was left winded after he was punched in a seemingly-unprovoked attack in London(Image: BBC)

“I was walking to Groucho’s at the end of Tottenham Court Road and someone walked up to me, completely out of the blue, and said: ‘Steve Owen, I owe you this,’ and punched me as hard as they could in the chest, in my ribcage,” he recalled. “I could not breathe.

“All I could do was look up and see them running up the road,” Martin added. “Everyone just moved around, avoided it, and I was standing on the pavement struggling for breath because it winded me.”

However, according to Martin, the violent incident was just one of several moments that the public took revenge on Steve Owen. He went on to say that he suffered a host of other run-ins, including taking “elbows to the face, people pulling my hair and putting their entire fist in my mouth.”

Spandau Ballet star Martin opted to leave the show after the incident and landed a host of other roles(Image: Getty Images)

Before Martin shot to international stardom as the bassist for 80s hitmakers Spandau Ballet, he had landed himself a number of small TV roles. After the band split up, Martin returned to the screen, taking on roles such as the infamous Kray twins in The Krays.After his stint on EastEnders, Martin would go on to land other roles including The Bill on ITV. However, he would make a return to the Square, after he found himself at the centre of the renowned “Who Shot Phil?” storyline in Walford.