EastEnders pin-up Jack Ryder looks very different to Jamie Mitchell as he stars on Holby City next week
Seventeen years on and the actor has ditched his boyish good looks to become a silver haired doctor in the medical drama
FORMER EastEnders star Jack Ryder looks almost unrecognisable in upcoming scenes for Holby City.
The actor, 37, has ditched his boyish good looks for a manly beard and silver hair in recently released snaps from his medical drama debut.
Jack is most well known for playing the role of Jamie Mitchell in EastEnders from 1998 until 2002, when his character was killed off on Christmas Day in a dramatic fashion after his love-rival Martin Fowler ran him over, leaving Sonia Fowler, played by Natalie Cassidy, distraught.
Back then, the actor was branded a 'heartthrob' due to his boyish good looks, short blonde hair and cheeky persona.
And while he was charming the likes of Sonia Fowler, Zoe Slater and Janine Butcher on-screen it seemed like the 20-year-old was a hit off-screen too, as the actor married Coronation Street actress Kym Marsh in 2002, however the pair got divorced in 2009.
Seventeen years later and it seems that the actor's appearance has dramatically changed.
The once baby faced boy has since ditched his floppy blonde locks for a short 'silver fox' hairdo, a beard and a sharp suit for his latest role as consultant surgeon Evan Crowhurst in Holby City.
In November, The Sun's Bizarre column revealed that the former EastEnders star would be making his first major return to TV in 2019.
Evan Crowhurst will play the boyfriend doctor Chloe Godard, played by newcomer Amy Lennox.
Executive producer Simon Harper said EastEnders fans would get “quite a surprise seeing him in this very different role”.
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He said at the time: "We’ve been talking to Jack for a while to find the right part for him on Holby and his powerful, nuanced audition for Evan blew us away,” he explained.
"He’s both a household name and a superb actor, and fans who remember him as Jamie in EastEnders are in for a big treat and quite a surprise seeing him in this very different role.
"Evan is a complex, alpha surgeon who makes some major waves in Holby."
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