EASTENDERS actor James Bye has revealed his character Martin Fowler’s fate as he joins Strictly Come Dancing.
James, 38, has played the market trader in EastEnders since 2014 and is now following in many of his fellow cast members footsteps by taking part in Strictly.
EastEnders actor James Bye has revealed Martin Fowler’s fate on the soap as he takes part in Strictly
The 38-year-old actor has been part of EastEnders since 2014
Juggling a full time role on the soap with Strictly’s intense training schedule isn’t easy, but James has worked with EastEnders bosses to make sure he can do both.
He told The Celeb Report Online: “As far as I’m aware at the minute they’re going to quieten me down as much as possible.
“I’m still going to be in the show, but the beauty is that we film across the road [from Strictly studios] so as soon as I’m finished filming I can shoot over to this and rehearse.
“We’re just going to have to find time where we can to start with, but they’re really understanding at EastEnders, they’re brilliant at that.”
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A bigger consideration James had to make was whether it would put too much strain on his family to be juggling two major jobs.
James has been married to wife Victoria since 2012 and the couple has three children, Edward, eight, Louis, six and Hugo, three.
He said: “Because I’ve got a young family I had to talk all that through first, make sure we were in a position as a family for me to go through something as intense as Strictly is.
“But we’re lucky in that sense that we’ve got the support network, so it was a strong ‘yes’ once the family was on board.”
James will be hoping to do as well as some of his EastEnders co-stars who have competed on Strictly in the past, including Kellie Bright and Emma Barton, who both made it to the final.
However, he’s trying not to put too much pressure on himself, saying: “They’ve done well haven’t they over the last few years! I don’t think about pressure as I’m just here to have fun.
“I’ve had a lot of advice from these previous contestants. I’m so fortunate to have all the advice from everyone, and everyone’s advice was just do it. It’s amazing.”
James has three sons with wife Victoria
Strictly Come Dancing begins on Saturday, September 17 at 6.10pm on BBC One.
