Speakers

Ross Kemp is a BAFTA award-winning actor, author and journalist, who rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders.

Since 2006 he has received international recognition as an investigative journalist for his critically acclaimed, award-winning documentaries. Ross began his acting career on stage with the likes of John Thaw and Richard Wilson.

He soon moved into television and his early roles included parts in Emmerdale Farm, London’s Burning, and Birds of a Feather, although he is best known for playing the role of Grant Mitchell in Eastenders, brother to Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) and the son of Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor). During his 10 years playing the role, he won a number of awards, including ‘Best Actor’ from British Soap Awards, Inside Soap Awards, and TV Quick and Choice Awards, as well as numerous other nominations.

In recent years Ross has built a reputation as one of TV’s most exciting and hard-hitting documentary makers. After a brief meeting with a member of the infamous ‘Bloods’ gang in California, Ross went to Sky 1 with the idea for a new series, Gangs, for which he won a BAFTA for Best Factual Series and was nominated on another occasion.

After making 27 programmes around the world, Ross moved on from Gangs to a new series: Ross Kemp in Afghanistan, where he spent time from 2007 to 2012 with army regiments: 1 Royal Anglian, 5 Scots, 1 Royal Irish, and twice with 45 Commando. Ross and his team were nominated for a ‘Best Factual Series’ BAFTA, and won an AIB International Media Excellence Award for ‘International TV Personality’. Ross and his team have also made documentaries on international piracy, in Gaza, Israel and the Amazon Rainforest.

His production company Freshwater Films has also made several series of Extreme World, a documentary that sees Ross travel the world to destinations such as Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, The Congo and Ukraine. Most recently, Ross’s documentaries for ITV have included Ross Kemp: The Search for Michael Jackson’s Zoo, The Millennium Dome Heist with Ross Kemp, In the Line of Fire with Ross Kemp, Ross Kemp and the Armed Police, Hatton Garden: The Inside Story, HMP Belmarsh with Ross Kemp, Ross Kemp: On the NHS Frontline, Britain’s Tiger Kings: On The Trail with Ross Kemp and the Ross Kemp: Living With… series which included a heartfelt documentary about Dementia after his EastEnders on-screen mother Barbara Windsor passed away from the disease.

Ross Kemp is also the host of BBC 1 quiz show Bridge of Lies, and the highly acclaimed Sky History series Ross Kemp: Shipwreck Treasure Hunter as he deep dives off the coast of Britain.

He has authored a Sunday Times bestseller, 'Ross Kemp on Gangs', as well as 'Gangs 2', 'Ross Kemp on Afghanistan', and 'Ross Kemp on Pirates', published by Penguin. 'Warriors & Raiders', and his ninth title, 'A to Z of Hell', are published by Cornerstone.