I don’t think Ross Kemp deserved the criticism – bordering on facetiousness – levelled at him by Sam Wollaston (Last night’s TV, G2, 10 July). Firstly, Kemp isn’t Grant Mitchell, a fictional character. There is little evidence that he is, or considers himself, a tough guy either.
Kemp is a man who recently did a powerful and moving documentary about refugees in the Mediterranean. He has done equally engaging work about elephant poaching in Africa and the Kurdish fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. He always genuinely seems to care about the plight of the often desperate people he encounters. He is also a person principled enough apparently to have called his then wife, Rebekah Wade, a “homophobic cow” after she – allegedly – made a snide remark at gay MP Chris Bryant.
Like the equally excellent Stacey Dooley and Reggie Yates, Kemp doesn’t fit the mould of traditional television investigative journalists. He has an estuary accent and is a former soap opera star. I would argue that he has changed numerous minds and introduced ordinary people to current events that they might otherwise have ignored. He has more in common with Louis Theroux or the Unreported World team than Grant Mitchell.
Will Goble
Rayleigh, Essex
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