EastEnders' Neil McDermott admits affair with teen

EastEnders' Neil McDermott admits affair with teen
EastEnders' Neil McDermott admits affair with teen (Image credit: PA WIRE)

EastEnders star Neil McDermott is believed to have moved out of his marital home after admitting having an affair with a 16-year-old fan. The actor who plays Ryan Malloy in the BBC1 soap, slept with a teenage girl when he made a personal appearance at the Glam nightclub in Stockton-on-Tees, just weeks after his wife Michelle gave birth to their first child, daughter Arabella. Since the revelations, Neil has issued an apology in a bid to save his three-and-a-half-year marriage. Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, he said: "I am so sorry: To my wife, daughter and our family for this betrayal. I love my wife and family dearly and I'm distraught that my life is now in tatters due to a stupid mistake. "I've caused heartache to those I love most which I deeply regret. This was a one-off incident but I've let myself down as well as my wife and everyone who knows me. Now I just need privacy and time to do all I can to rebuild my family." On Tuesday morning, The Sun published photos that appear to show Neil leaving his marital home - minus his wedding ring - carrying his personal belongings in big liners.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.