Kiss and Tell

Garry Hobbs has just arrived in Walford and already he's tried it on with Laura - and his fiancée's sister.  Actor Ricky Groves tells all...

Basically, he's one of those guys who has more ambition with women than he has luck.  Like a lot of blokes, he'll go out for  burger when he's got fillet steak indoors, if you know what I mean.

Where does Garry fit in with the rest of the Slater family?

He's the fiancee of Lynne, who's the eldest sister in the Slater family, and he's been with her, in an on-and-off sort of way, for a good while.  But he's got a roving eye.

One of the first things he does is try it on with Lynne's sister, Kat, and then kisses Laura Dunn.  Is he a Casanova?

Not really.  He thinks he's more successful than he actually is when it comes to charming women.  With Laura he finds himself in a bit of a dilemma as he never instigates the kiss but he willingly participates.  Bizarrely, for such a wannabe ladies man, he never sees it coming and he's shocked when it happens.  I suppose that the only heartbreaking he could realistically do is with Lynne as she loves him too much.

Could he be a new Grant Mitchell in the making?

I don't think any character could ever fill that man's boots.  So far the scripts have sent Garry one way and, at the moment, he's just trying it on a bit.  In many ways he's  more a  likeable chancer than a local thug.

How do you see the new family working out?

I can't remember in the history of the show a family coming in that had so many girls, and that could lead to some great new sets of dynamics.  I mean, you've had plenty of brothers in the series over the years, but all girls together could be really interesting.  And Garry just slots along in with them so I'm looking forward to it.

How did you get the role?

I'd done a lot of amateur stuff and decided to take acting a step further and look at it as a career.  So I applied to go to drama school and got accepted at The Poor School in London in 1997, where I began training and acted in classical plays.  I graduated in 1999.

Had you done any TV work before appearing in Eastenders?

I appeared in the ITV drama London's Burning, the comedy series Chambers, a pilot for the BBC called Upper Annals, and my last job before this came along was two episodes of Burnside with Christopher Ellison, who's a top man.

Do you see your role in Eastenders as a long term role?

At the moment I'm just letting it happen on a day-to-day basis.  I just want to cut my teeth and settle in to the show.

What was your first days filming like?

My first days filming was all internal shots but my first day in Albert Square was great - everyone's so supportive.  Fortunately, I've had no embarrassing because, as Sir Alec Guinness said, I always check my fly before shooting a scene!