Martin Kemp transformed from musician to actor - but his time on EastEnders ended with an actual explosion.
The Spandau Ballet star shot to fame in the 80s along with brother Gary Kemp, frontman Tony Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble.
The popular boyband had eight UK top 10 albums and ten UK top 10 hits, but called it quits for the first time in 1990 to pursue other projects.
After teaming up with Gary to play the Kray Twins in a film about the notorious East End gangsters, Martin landed the role of badboy Steve Owen in EastEnders in 1998.
It was actually singer George Michael who helped get him the part because he was a massive fan of the soap - and in return Martin wore on of his jumpers in a scene.
Club owner Steve was at the centre of some massive storylines during four years in Albert Square, including the murder of old love interest Saskia and framing his DJ Matthew.
But Steve met a grisly ended as he exploded in a ball of fire - and it was alleged that Martin's character was killed off as 'revenge'.
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In 2001, Martin announced that he was leaving EastEnders, jumping ship to pursue other projects at rivals ITV in a rumoured £1.5m deal.
"I have had a wonderful time at EastEnders and I will be very sad to leave, but I feel that its time to move on," he said.
"This new relationship with ITV will be a great opportunity for me to develop my career across a range of projects and I’m really excited about working with them in the future."
A high-speed chase with nemesis Phil Mitchell after kidnapping his daughter Louise ended in tragedy as Steve lost control of his car and crashed.
Phil managed to rescue Louise but when he went back to get Steve the car blew up in an enormous fireball that left nothing to the imagination.
It was reported that the BBC was exacting 'revenge' on Martin by sensationally killing him off after he defected to ITV.
"They were furious at the way Martin handled the whole thing," a source told The Sun at the time.
"Out of courtesy they would normally expect an actor to give them some warning so that they have time to come up with a better offer.
"It comes as no surprise his character has been killed off. It means that if it all goes wrong for Martin at ITV he can never go back."
Martin believes that EastEnders 'saved his life' by dragging him out of depression after battling two brain tumours in the 90s.
The actor underwent a series of operations, had a metal plate inserted into his head and endured a long recovery process.
He told The Sun : "When I went into that show, my confidence and my charisma after what I’d been through was on the floor.
"I was still suffering from depression. My brain wasn’t even working properly. If I wanted to walk one way, I’d walk the other.
"I couldn’t remember lines properly. But the character has this incredible confidence and charisma that kind of gave me my life back.
"I spent three and a half years as him and it made me forget about what I’d been through."
Despite leaving two decades ago, Martin stills channels his inner Steve Owen when he needs a confidence boost.
"He gave me so much confidence at the time, on that set. I think even today there's a bit of Steve Owen I keep with me if I ever need a bit of confidence," he said in 2017.
Martin would love to return as one of Walford's most memorable villains, but is very aware that it's unlikely he would be brought back from the dead.
"The BBC blew me up, so going back into it is something that might be quite difficult," he confessed.
"But if you said to me, over the years, the BBC never blew you up then yes, I'd have loved to have gone back into it.
"It was three and a half years of probably the best fun I've ever had in front of the camera, and I loved the character Steve Owen."
However, strangers things have happened as Dirty Den Watts and Kathy Beale have both risen from the grave.
Last week, Martin revealed he had popped down to the new EastEnders set - and admitted they were 'glad to see the back of him' when he was last there.
Martin told This Morning hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield that he had paid a visit to the revamped set.
The new £86.7 million EastEnders set gives producers much more scope to film blockbuster movie-style scenes due to longer roads and less dead ends.
Many of Albert Square's most iconic landmarks have been recreated for the new set, including the Queen Vic pub, The Arches, Ian's chippy and Ruby's night club.
Giving his thoughts, Martin said: "You don’t know what to say, because it is absolutely amazing. It’s built out of bricks and mortar. When I was there it was all plastic bricks flapping around in the wind."
He admitted that the set, which was built in 1984 and only intended to last for two years, was no longer fit for purpose during his time on the soap.
"Once I was there in a scene with Dot and a guy had to come on and staple it back on - the bricks," he revealed.
"It’s a weird one, because you go there and say, ‘This is so great, it’s brilliant, it looks exactly the same’, which is what they want."
The last time that Martin set foot on an EastEnders set had been when he left in 2002 - and he did not get a warm departure.
Martin added: "I was invited to go down and do something for the One Show, so I went down there and did that. But it was a great excuse, because the last time I left that, I think they were glad to see the back of me."
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