Jack Ryder has opened up on dealing with huge fame at a young age, after shooting to stardom as teen heartthrob Jamie Mitchell on BBC soap EastEnders.
The actor joined the soap in 1998 when he was just 17 years of age, before leaving in 2002 when fan favourite Jamie was tragically killed off.
His death remains one of the saddest and most-watched soap deaths of all time, with over 20 million people tuning in to see him bow out.
At the time, he was a huge hit with fans - but the actor confessed he found the huge fame "tough to cope with".
Speaking over 20 years on from the exit, he's still remembered for his time in Walford - with him recalling how much he loved doing the job.
In a chat with Lorraine Kelly on her show on Wednesday, the director and Holby City actor discussed how his family and friends helped him at the time as he suddenly became a well-known face.
Lorraine asked him: "You had this ridiculous sort of hysterical boy band fame in EastEnders. It was nuts wasn't it? You were only a kid.
"Coming to terms with that is hard isn't it? It is hard."
Jack responded: "I mean no one can prepare you for it, and at that time it was before Facebook and Instagram and social media.
"So it was the last kind of golden era of TV, and my last episode got something like 25 million viewers. Yeah, it was a big time.
"I loved the work. The fame side was tough to cope with at that time and at that age, but I had a great family and great friends and I just sort of kept my head down, and got on with the work."
Lorraine added that he never let the fame go to his head and got on with it, before suggesting the lack of social media at the time was probably a good thing.
He agreed with this, saying: "I think so."
Jack also confirmed he was still in contact with some of his former cast mates, and recently bumped into Phil Mitchell actor Steve McFadden.
Holby City is filmed in the same location as EastEnders, and while filming for the hospital drama he had a nice catch-up with his former on-screen relative.
Agreeing it was like a second family when filming for the soap, he told Lorraine that he still spoke with Natalie Cassidy and Dean Gaffney.
He added: "We are all loosely in touch, we have a lot of fond memories together."
Lorraine airs weekdays at 9am on ITV.
