Ricky Champ expects ‘EastEnders’ fans to have "a bit of empathy" towards Stuart Highway once his backstory is revealed.
The BBC One soap will delve into the past of the calculated character in upcoming episodes, and the 38-year-old actor admits viewers should be prepared for more "emotional scenes" involving his alter-ego.
Speaking at the National Television Awards at London’s The O2 on Tuesday night (22.01.19), he exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "There’s loads of Stuart’s back story coming up, it’ll explain what’s happened to him in the past and people might even have a bit of empathy.
"It’s always emotional with Stu, there’s no middle ground."
Ricky admits it was tough to film his recent scenes with Danny Dyer which saw Stuart plead for his life as Mick Carter knocked him out and chucked him in the boot of his car, before terrorising him.
He said: "It was quite hard to shoot those, getting chucked about the place.
"But I was with Danny so it was awesome.
"I came away unscathed though.
"Dan’s got a lot of experiences in those scenes, it’s brilliant."
While soap villains tend to have a shelf life, Ricky is "really happy" in ‘EastEnders’ and hopes Stuart can remain in Albert Square for a long time to come.
The former ‘Game of Thrones’ star – who first appeared in ‘EastEnders’ in May last year – said: "I’m really happy to be in ‘EastEnders’ and I’m really proud of the work I’ve done.
"If they keep digging it and there’s still stuff to explore then why not?"
Ricky Champ: EastEnders fans could empathise with Stuart
