Ross is a BAFTA award-winning documentary maker, actor, and author, who rose to prominence in the BBC1 soap Eastenders. Since 2006 he has received international recognition for his award winning documentaries.
Ross began his acting career on stage with the likes of John Thaw and Richard Wilson. He is best known for his multi-award-winning portrayal of Grant Mitchell in EastEnders. After leaving the show Ross signed to ITV to star in their big drama series, Ultimate Force. He made his return to acting after 16 years away in new Channel 5 drama, Blindspot, in 2023.
In recent years Ross has built a reputation as one of TV’s most exciting and hard-hitting documentary makers. After a brief meeting with a member of the infamous ‘Bloods’ gang in California, Ross went to Sky with the idea for a new series, Ross Kemp on Gangs, for which he won a BAFTA for Best Factual Series.
After making 27 programmes around the world, Ross moved on from Ross Kemp on Gangs to a new series: Ross Kemp in Afghanistan, where he spent time from 2007 to 2012 with army regiments: 1 Royal Anglian, 5 Scots, 1 Royal Irish, and twice with 45 Commando. Ross and his team were nominated for a ‘Best Factual Series’ BAFTA, and won an AIB International Media Excellence Award for ‘International TV Personality’.
Ross Kemp’s Extreme World followed on Sky with documentaries in Gaza, Israel, the Amazon Rainforest, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, The Congo and Ukraine.
He has authored Ross Kemp on Gangs (Sunday Times Bestseller), as well as Gangs 2, Ross Kemp on Afghanistan, Ross Kemp on Pirates, Warriors & Raiders and A to Z of Hell. In 2023 he released his latest book Take Nothing For Granted, a selection of stories from Ross’s life.
More recent documentaries for ITV have included Ross Kemp: The Search for Michael Jackson’s Zoo, The Millennium Dome Heist with Ross Kemp, In the Line of Fire with Ross Kemp, Ross Kemp and the Armed Police, Hatton Garden: The Inside Story, HMP Belmarsh with Ross Kemp, Ross Kemp: On the NHS Frontline, Britain’s Tiger Kings: On The Trail with Ross Kemp and the Ross Kemp: Living With… series which included a heartfelt documentary about Dementia after his EastEnders on-screen mum Barbara Windsor passed away from the disease.
Ross is also the host of hit new BBC1 quiz show Bridge of Lies and the highly acclaimed Sky History series Ross Kemp: Deep Sea Treasure Hunter where he deep dives off the coast of Britain. Next up is the new 5×60’ series Ross Kemp: Mafia and Britain for Sky History in 2024.