Entertainment

Ex-EastEnders villain Alex Ferns surprises fans with new look

The ex-soap star showed off his drastic transformation.
The ex-soap star showed off his drastic transformation. The ex-soap star showed off his drastic transformation.

Former EastEnders actor Alex Ferns showed off a wildly different appearance 15 years on from starring in the soap.

Ferns played villain Trevor Morgan, the abusive husband of Little Mo Slater (Kacey Ainsworth), from 2000 until he was killed off in November 2002.

During an appearance on ITV’s Loose Women, the 48-year-old actor spoke about receiving death threats during his days in the Walford-based programme, but it was his physical appearance that struck fans.

Now sporting a heavy grey beard and slicked-back hair, viewers commented on his attractiveness and the difference between now and his former on-screen persona, who was clean-shaven and wore his hair very short.

One viewer wrote on Twitter: “Alex looks hot with his beard.”

Another said: “Oh my gosh evil Trevor looks so different! #LooseWomen #EastEnders.”

Ferns, who is now appearing in a new play called Rabbits, told the presenters that it was “tricky” playing somebody so detested by the public for his part in the storyline, which saw him mentally and physically abusing his wife.

He said: “At one stage I remember the BBC security came to me at Elstree (Studios) and said, ‘look, we can’t have you going out the front gate anymore because there’s a guy who wants to kill you’.

“They used to take me out the back at Elstree Studios, I was like ‘bring them here, let me sort them out!'”

Ferns added: “It was very tricky, but I had a great time, I loved working with Kacey.”

Kacey Ainsworth and Alex Ferns
Kacey Ainsworth and Alex Ferns (Yui Mok/PA Archive/PA Images)
EastEnders stars Kacey Ainsworth and Alex Ferns in 2002 (Yui Mok/PA)

The actor hinted that he would be keen to return to the programme if the opportunity arose, despite the fact Trevor was killed in an explosion.

“I would never say never, I would always entertain it if Kacey was going back,” he said.

“I’d only go back if Kacey was going back.”