EastEnders newcomer Elijah Holloway's past clash with BBC co-star uncovered

EastEnders newcomer's clash with former Walford icon uncovered

EastEnders newcomer Elijah Holloway, who portrays Harry Mitchell in the soap, has an interesting history with a previous Albert Square regular, having had an awkward encounter on another BBC programme.

Elijah came into the EastEnders fold this week, as his character's father Teddy (played by Roland Manookian) arrived in search of his own dad, Stevie (Alan Ford). However, seven years before dabbling in acting, Elijah tried to break into the music scene.

In 2017, the then 18 year old auditioned for the somewhat forgotten talent show Let It Shine. He introduced himself as a luxury perfume seller, enticing wealthy customers to buy his scents.

His singing skills were assessed by an array of famous faces such as pop star and former X Factor judge Dannii Minogue, Glee actress Amber Riley, Take That's Gary Barlow, and Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet fame, known to EastEnders fans as Steve Owen.

During his performance, Elijah tried to impress the judges with some of his sales techniques, describing the kind of perfumes he'd recommend. He seemed to be winning them over until he addressed Martin Kemp with an unfortunate choice of words, suggesting he needed a "wooden" scent, reports the Daily Star.

Quickly trying to smooth things over, Elijah clarified: "And by wooden I mean mature and elegant."

Martin hit back, saying: "I know I was in EastEnders for a while but that's below the belt I thought!"

Seven years on from that audition, Elijah is now settling into his new role on the soap.

"It's a massive privilege to join a British institution like EastEnders, and to be playing a Mitchell makes it even more exciting," he expressed recently.

Harry made an immediate impact in his first EastEnders appearance on Thursday (June 27), where he quickly got acquainted with the residents of Walford and had a steamy encounter with Penny Branning (Kitty Castledine).

Upcoming episodes are set to see the new Mitchells shake things up as they connect with their estranged relatives.