Ross Kemp Returns To 'EastEnders' Following Grant Peggy's Death

Ross Kemp is returning to BBC's "EastEnders" for Dame Barbara Windsor's exit on the long-running British soap opera.

Kemp, 51, who last appeared on the show in 2006, said his return would be "brief."

The actor's return comes after Dame Barbara Windsor announced her character Peggy Mitchell would be killed off.

According to BBC, Peggy made a surprise appearance on Friday, having left the show in 2010, to tell her son Phil (Steve McFadden) that her cancer had returned.

Now, Kemp who played Grant Mitchell from 1990-1999 and then again in 2005 until 2006 will return to bring his family back together.

"Barbara is a very close friend, so when I learned of the storyline it felt right that the Mitchell brothers are reunited with their mother for the last time," Kemp said. "I am really looking forward to going back to EastEnders and filming what are set to be some classic EastEnders episodes."

It was revealed that Dame Barbara had been planning her exit since November last year.

"Peggy is a character close to my heart but I made the decision a while ago that I need to say goodbye to her once and for all, as otherwise she will always be there, urging me to go back, and that is something I need to shut the door on," Windsor, 78, said in a statement published by Metro.

Kemp's Grant Mitchell was introduced in 1990 along with brother Phil. Dame Barbara joined the show in 1994. The Mitchell family has since been one of the series' most memorable characters in the show's 30-year-long run.

"To have the Mitchell brothers come face to face again, having to face losing their mother is an opportunity to show Ross Kemp and Steve McFadden at their very best," said executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins.

Stay tuned for more on Ross Kemp's return to "EastEnders" as updates become available.