EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick revealed who he wants to join the cast of the BBC soap. The actor, 31, has played Jay Brown since 2006 and was introduced as the grandchild of Evie Brown (Marji Campi) and Bert Atkinson (Dave Hill).
While Jay's father, Jase Dyer (Stephen Lord), arrived in Walford a few months later, it was revealed his mother, Karen Brown, had died from breast cancer.
Despite Karen being deceased, Strictly Come Dancing star Jamie previously discussed a potential return from the dead for his on-screen mother.
Speaking at the Inside Soap Awards last year, the soap star exclusively revealed who he would like to play the role of his mother if she was to return.
He said: "Do you know who I'd love to play my mum? I'd love someone like Joanna Lumley to play my mum."
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Jamie recalled a touching moment he shared with the BAFTA-winning actress at the National Television Awards several years prior.
He explained: "The only reason I say this is because when we were at the NTAs years ago, she won the Special Recognition Award. We crossed paths walking down the corridor and she gave me a big kiss on both cheeks and said, 'Oh you're great.'"
Jamie added: "From that moment I've loved Joanna Lumley." Jamie is currently juggling his role on EastEnders with performing on Strictly Come Dancing.
Partnered with Michelle Tsiakkas, Jamie has continued wowing the judges and audiences. Last week, he performed the Salsa to "Danza Kuduro" by Don Omar and Lucenzo.
Head judge Shirley Ballas couldn't contain her enthusiasm as she critiqued the performance, giving the couple a standing ovation and declaring it Jamie's "best dance" yet.
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While many actors take breaks from their work commitments to compete in Strictly, Jamie is still filming EastEnders as per usual.
"I'm not taking a break. I'm still there, so I'm doing both shows," he said. "But we're lucky [that] EastEnders [is] literally just over the road. I [don't have] far to go."
Jamie's gruelling schedule has meant that he’s had to make huge sacrifices in his personal life, however, he is committed to putting in as many hours as he can to perfect his routines.
He added: "I’m still there, powering through, I’ve just kind of budgeted for the next however long I’m going to be really busy, and I’ve just had to let all the social events go, gutted that I can’t go out every week.
"But I'm used to it all, really," he added. "I've been doing it a long time. So there's nothing that scares me."
