Former EastEnder divorces wife of 31 years
Former EastEnders star Leslie Grantham has divorced his wife of 31 years.
Grantham, 65, who played one of the BBC One soap’s most notorious bad boys ‘Dirty’ Den Watts, was granted a divorce from wife Jane on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour on her part.
Documents filed at the High Court reveal that Grantham has left the home they shared in Wimbledon, SW London.
The actor, who is now living in nearby Twickenham, stated that Jane has behaved in a way that he “cannot be reasonably expected to live with” and that their relationship “has broken down irretrievably”.
The pair have three sons together Spike, Jake and Danny.
In 2004 Grantham infamously exposed himself on a webcam in his EastEnders dressing room. He played the role of wide boy Den from the show’s opening episode in 1985 until 1989. The character is best remembered for his ill-treatment of long-suffering wife Angie (Anita Dobson) who he drove to drink with his philandering ways, before serving her with divorce papers on Christmas Day 1986.
For many years viewers were led to believe the character was dead until a surprise return in 2003. The character was finally killed off for good in 2005 to mark the soap’s 20th anniversary when Den’s second wife Chrissie (Tracy-Ann Oberman) brained him with an iron doorstop over his cheating.
