EastEnders stars Danny Dyer, Diane Parish and Rudolph Walker were honoured to present one mother with a Pride of Britain Award this year.
Gee Walker’s incredible legacy of love and compassion in the face of racism and hatred left the soap actors awestruck and inspired at this year's ceremony, which took place last weekend.
Following the brutal racist murder of her son Anthony in 2005, when he was just 18, Gee, from Liverpool, decided to forgive his killers and then devoted her life to promoting racial harmony in his memory.
She founded the Anthony Walker Foundation, which in the last five years has worked with 40,000 young people and supported nearly 10,000 people who have experienced hate crimes.
During the broadcast of the ceremony on Thursday evening on ITV, Diane welled up as she told Gee: "You're capacity to take pain and turn pain into hope and action is an inspiration to every single one of us."
As the audience began to applaud her, she continued: "It doesn't matter what colour, creed, gender we are, you are an inspiration. All I can do is salute you, thank you Gee."
After leaving the stage arm in arm with the soap actors, Gee said Anthony would be “enormously proud” of her.
She said: "Standing up there, I didn’t realise the enormity of it, the positive that has come out of this evil.
"Grief can consume you and control you, and I thank God that he has given me the strength to not allow it to control me. Together all we can do is try to make a change and do good."
Diane, who plays Denise Fox on the BBC soap, said: “I am very proud of her. I applaud her for the altruism and the love that she has shown to take us forward and to inspire everyone to do better. She inspires me as a mother, as a human being."
Mick Carter actor Danny added: “The hatred and the division in this day and age needs to be addressed now, because it can’t go on anymore.
"Gee is such an important woman and her strength - I’m just astounded by it to be honest, and honoured to be standing next to her."
Watch the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, tonight on ITV at 8pm.
