Leon Small
Encyclopedia
Leon Small is a fictional character from the BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
and its Internet spin-off EastEnders: E20
, played by Sam Attwater
. He made his first appearance in EastEnders on 5 January and appears in all twelve episodes of the first series of EastEnders: E20. The character was created by a team of 13 writers aged between 17 and 22 and is described as sexy and cool with a short fuse and a lack of respect for those in authority. The character's departure was announced on 11 May 2010 and his last appearance was on 30 September 2010.
as a new student at Walford High School, and Peter Beale
(Thomas Law
) is to be his 'buddy'. Peter's sister Lucy
(Melissa Suffield
) takes a liking to Leon and holds a party in 89b George Street so she can spend time with him. The party turns to chaos and Lucy and Leon get everyone out by saying the police are outside. Leon offers to help Lucy clean up and asks her to join in a game of Twister
with him. As they are playing, a condom falls out Lucy's pocket. Leon sees it and says he did not want to take advantage of her. However, she kisses him passionately, which leads to sex. After they have sex, Leon receives a text message and gets dressed but asks if Lucy wants to do it again. Lucy says yes, but after appears disturbed.
In EastEnders: E20, Leon and Lucy go back to the flat but are disturbed by Zsa Zsa Carter
's (Emer Kenny
) stepfather Andy who thinks she is inside. Lucy tells Andy where Zsa Zsa is, but Leon defends Zsa Zsa and Lucy leaves. He finds Andy attacking Zsa Zsa and fights him off. He then meets Fatboy
(Ricky Norwood
) and Mercy Olubunmi
(Bunmi Mojekwu
) and along with Zsa Zsa, they run from Andy into 89b George Street where they decide to stay. Leon tells Fatboy his mother is dead and his father has kicked him out. Leon and Zsa Zsa grow close, leading to them having sex in a cemetery. He begins to get frustrated with Zsa Zsa and grows closer to Mercy, and Fatboy accuses Leon of being the father of Mercy's unborn baby, though it is not true. Mercy suffers a miscarriage and Zsa Zsa freaks out and decides to leave. Leon stops her, saying he has feelings for her. He invites her to his boxing match, saying if she is there, he will know how she really feels. Leon wins the match but Zsa Zsa is not there. When they finally meet up they kiss, and knowing they can no longer stay in the flat, Fatboy offers them a room at his house.
Having started a proper relationship with Zsa Zsa, Leon returns to Walford looking for her after she runs away. He performs as a stripper at Bianca Jackson
's (Patsy Palmer
) hen party. After the party, Zainab Masood
(Nina Wadia
) catches him in bed with Lucy. Lucy tries to break Leon and Zsa Zsa up when they are kissing in The Queen Victoria
public house, managing to drag Leon back to her house until her father Ian Beale
(Adam Woodyatt
) interrupts them and asks Leon to leave. Lucy watches Leon and Zsa Zsa around the Square and reveals to her stepmother Jane (Laurie Brett
) that she is pregnant. Leon humiliates Whitney Dean
(Shona McGarty
) by filming her cleaning a bench in the Square and sending it to people, so when she hears Ian talking about the pregnancy, she decides to tell Leon. He confronts Lucy in The Queen Victoria and asks if the baby is his. They meet the next day and he says he is willing to go with her to get an abortion, but she lies that the baby is not his. When Leon demands the truth, Lucy tells him she had an abortion.
Zsa Zsa receives gifts from someone calling themselves "The Blue Masquerader" and Leon grows jealous. Leon and Fatboy eventually discover that Peter has been sending the gifts. Lucy helps Peter to split up Leon and Zsa Zsa but after Peter changes his mind, Lucy reveals to Zsa Zsa that Leon got her pregnant. Zsa Zsa breaks up with Leon and his attempts to win her back fail. Leon moves back in with his father but moves out again when he beats Leon after finding out he got Lucy pregnant. Leon tells Fatboy he is staying with someone but later sneaks back into 89b George Street. He helps Whitney with her T-shirt printing and flirts with her and kisses her, but she does not reciprocate as she has a boyfriend, Billie Jackson (Devon Anderson
). He later tells Peter and Fatboy about it, and subsequently Lucy finds out and tells Billie, which leads to him ending his relationship with Whitney, who knees Leon in the groin while Fatboy attempts to get Leon and Zsa Zsa back together, as Leon has not been himself since they split up.
Leon, Fatboy and Peter plan to go to a party in Hampshire, but Lucy, Whitney and Zsa Zsa offer Leon a night out in the woods instead, planning revenge getting Lucy pregnant and lying to Zsa Zsa. In the woods, Zsa Zsa comes out with pig's blood on her hands saying that she has been attacked. Knowing that it is a plan, Leon runs away and drunkenly ventures into the dark woods, cutting his hand. The next day the gang discover that Lucy let Leon run off and he was out all night. Peter and Fatboy then fear they hit Leon with the van the night before. Fatboy gets a voicemail from Leon saying he is hurt, and when he calls back, Zsa Zsa finds Leon's mobile phone in the leaves, smeared with blood. They decide to go to the police but Leon turns up, having been in police custody over night for being drunk. Leon reveals that Lucy had an abortion and they all realise that Lucy was trying to turn them against him, so on their return to Walford, they play a prank on Lucy, leaving her humiliated. However, Lucy reveals to her father that they are squatting in one of his properties and he evicts them.
After Fatboy breaks a tree in Albert Square, Leon helps to replace it but is horrified to discover the body of Owen Turner
(Lee Ross
) buried beneath it. The next day Zsa Zsa makes a joke when Leon speaks after a prolonged silence, causing Leon to walk out. She finds him to apologise, as she had not realised the discovery had affected him badly. He then recalls the day his mother died in a car crash when it took an hour for firemen to cut him free and he was unable to lean over to close his mother's eyes. He admits to Zsa Zsa that he sometimes feels alone. He fails most of his GCSE exams. Months later he flirts with Glenda Mitchell
(Glynis Barber
) in the local bookmaker's and agree to meet later. He obtains two tickets to a music festival in France and plans to take Zsa Zsa, but he reveals to Fatboy that he slept with Glenda, who tells Mercy, who then tells Zsa Zsa. Zsa Zsa asks Leon if he has seen anyone else but he says no. Zsa Zsa then seduces Leon in Fatboy's van before throwing him out in his underwear and leaving Walford for France. Leon decides that as his bags are packed he will go to France anyway, hinting that he will follow Zsa Zsa to apologise and resume their relationship. Before leaving, he tells Fatboy that he will always be his best friend and they continue to stay in touch.
, and Attwater's casting was announced on 25 November 2009, on which he said "It is a great privilege to be working with such great actors and on such an established show. It's an amazing opportunity and I'm really enjoying tackling a character like Leon who has so much going on!"
The first scene Attwater filmed was of him in his underwear, the first of six semi-naked scenes that were filmed for EastEnders: E20. Attwater said he felt pressure to be in shape for the part and prepared by attending a gym, saying "I want to be on the best form." Leon is also a dedicated boxer, but Attwater had never boxed before. His boxing scenes in EastEnders: E20 were filmed with a stuntman who Attwater was allowed to hit as much as was necessary.
Leon is described as sexy, effortlessly cool, with a short fuse and a lack of respect for those in authority. His mother died when he was a child and he was left in charge of his alcoholic father. In an interview with entertainment website Digital Spy
, Attwater said the character is strong-minded, going on to say: "He's a boxer, he wins in the ring and he has a way with the ladies. He can talk most into bed! That's his strong attribute! Leon's mum died when he was young, and that was a big thing for him. His relationship with his father's quite rocky, so I think that's where his weakness lies, in his family life. He tries to push that away as much as possible." He said that during EastEnders: E20, "[y]ou see his strengths and weaknesses and by the end of it, he becomes quite a rounded character, which is taken on into the main series."
Along with his co-stars Emer Kenny
and Ricky Norwood
, Attwater's initial contract was extended to six months, and he hoped for it to be extended further, however, on 11 May 2010, his departure from the show was announced, along with that of Kenny, who played Leon's girlfriend Zsa Zsa Carter
. The new executive producer of EastEnders, Bryan Kirkwood
, said "Emer and Sam have made a real impact in the short time they've been on the Square and we wish them all the best for the future."
hit "Bootylicious
" on webcam, and in another he is caught posing by Fatboy, who threatens to post the video on the Internet. A third video shows Leon filming Zsa Zsa as they mess around with their camera phones, ending with a kiss. Leon also makes a cameo appearance in the first episode of series 2 of EastEnders: E20, in which he punches Sol Levi
(Tosin Cole) in the face after he gets involved in an argument between Fatboy and Naz Mehmet
(Emaa Hussen).
wrote about Leon, "As someone who didn't watch E20 and therefore has no idea what backstory, if any, these characters had, Leon is probably the worst of the new gang – no family on the square, no distinctive personality, no plotline beyond impregnating Lucy Beale. The most interesting thing about him was when it looked like Peter Beale had run him over [...], and even that turned out to be nothing. [I] can't say [L]eon will be missed." A writer for The Northern Echo
wondered if Leon, along with Fatboy and Zsa Zsa, brought a new injection of life into the soap or took away screen time from more established characters. In May 2010, Attwater received a nomination in the "Best Soap Newcomer" category at the 14th TVChoice Awards for his portrayal of Leon.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
and its Internet spin-off EastEnders: E20
EastEnders: E20
EastEnders: E20 is a British Internet soap opera, which began airing on 8 January 2010. A spin-off from the established BBC soap EastEnders, it is set in EastEnders regular setting of Albert Square, a Victorian square in the fictional borough of Walford, in the East End of London...
, played by Sam Attwater
Sam Attwater
Samuel "Sam" Attwater is an English actor and singer best known for playing Leon Small in the British soap opera EastEnders and its online spin-off EastEnders: E20...
. He made his first appearance in EastEnders on 5 January and appears in all twelve episodes of the first series of EastEnders: E20. The character was created by a team of 13 writers aged between 17 and 22 and is described as sexy and cool with a short fuse and a lack of respect for those in authority. The character's departure was announced on 11 May 2010 and his last appearance was on 30 September 2010.
Storylines
Leon arrives in the show's setting of Albert SquareAlbert Square
Albert Square is the fictional location of the BBC soap opera EastEnders. It is ostensibly located in the equally fictional London borough of Walford in London's East End. The square's design was based on the real life Fassett Square in Hackney, and was given the name Albert Square after the real...
as a new student at Walford High School, and Peter Beale
Peter Beale
Peter Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. He was played by Thomas Law from 2006 until 2010. The character has previously been portrayed by James Martin, Joseph Shade, Alex Stevens and Francis Brittin-Snell. Law took over the role on 31 August 2006...
(Thomas Law
Thomas Law
Thomas John Law is a British actor. He is the fourth actor to play Peter Beale in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders...
) is to be his 'buddy'. Peter's sister Lucy
Lucy Beale
Lucy Katherine Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Eva Brittin-Snell from 1993 to 1996, Casey Anne Rothery from 1996 until 2004, Melissa Suffield from 2004 to 2010 and Hetti Bywater from 2012 onwards. Lucy was introduced in December 1993 as the newborn baby...
(Melissa Suffield
Melissa Suffield
Melissa Hollie Suffield is a British actress from London, best known for her role in the BBC soap opera EastEnders as Lucy Beale. Her first appearance on the show was 28 October 2004 and her last on 27 August 2010.-Career:...
) takes a liking to Leon and holds a party in 89b George Street so she can spend time with him. The party turns to chaos and Lucy and Leon get everyone out by saying the police are outside. Leon offers to help Lucy clean up and asks her to join in a game of Twister
Twister (game)
Twister is a game of physical skill produced by Hasbro Games. It is played on a large plastic mat that is spread on the floor or ground. The mat has four rows of large colored circles on it with a different color in each row: red, yellow, blue, and green. A spinner is attached to a square board...
with him. As they are playing, a condom falls out Lucy's pocket. Leon sees it and says he did not want to take advantage of her. However, she kisses him passionately, which leads to sex. After they have sex, Leon receives a text message and gets dressed but asks if Lucy wants to do it again. Lucy says yes, but after appears disturbed.
In EastEnders: E20, Leon and Lucy go back to the flat but are disturbed by Zsa Zsa Carter
Zsa Zsa Carter
Zsa Zsa Carter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders and its Internet spin-off EastEnders: E20, played by Emer Kenny. She made her first appearance in EastEnders on 5 January 2010 and appears in all twelve episodes of the first series of EastEnders: E20...
's (Emer Kenny
Emer Kenny
Emer Gwynne Morganna Kenny is an English actress from Haringey, London, best known for her role in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and its online spin-off EastEnders: E20, as Zsa Zsa Carter.-Career:...
) stepfather Andy who thinks she is inside. Lucy tells Andy where Zsa Zsa is, but Leon defends Zsa Zsa and Lucy leaves. He finds Andy attacking Zsa Zsa and fights him off. He then meets Fatboy
Fatboy (EastEnders)
Arthur "Fatboy" Chubb is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders and its Internet spin-off EastEnders: E20, played by Ricky Norwood. He made his first appearance in EastEnders on 5 January 2010 before appearing in the spin-off...
(Ricky Norwood
Ricky Norwood
Richard Colin "Ricky" Norwood is a British actor who plays Fatboy in the soap opera EastEnders and its online spin-off EastEnders: E20. He was born in Tower Hamlets, London, and lives in Forest Gate. From the age of 12 he attended the Theatre Royal Stratford East's Youth Theatre, and he also...
) and Mercy Olubunmi
Mercy Olubunmi
Mercy Chubb is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders and its Internet spin-off EastEnders: E20, played by Bunmi Mojekwu. Mercy is one of four main characters in EastEnders: E20, alongside Zsa Zsa Carter , Leon Small and Fatboy...
(Bunmi Mojekwu
Bunmi Mojekwu
Oluwabunmi Ruth Mojekwu is a British actress of Nigerian descent. She is best known for playing Mercy Olubunmi in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Early life:...
) and along with Zsa Zsa, they run from Andy into 89b George Street where they decide to stay. Leon tells Fatboy his mother is dead and his father has kicked him out. Leon and Zsa Zsa grow close, leading to them having sex in a cemetery. He begins to get frustrated with Zsa Zsa and grows closer to Mercy, and Fatboy accuses Leon of being the father of Mercy's unborn baby, though it is not true. Mercy suffers a miscarriage and Zsa Zsa freaks out and decides to leave. Leon stops her, saying he has feelings for her. He invites her to his boxing match, saying if she is there, he will know how she really feels. Leon wins the match but Zsa Zsa is not there. When they finally meet up they kiss, and knowing they can no longer stay in the flat, Fatboy offers them a room at his house.
Having started a proper relationship with Zsa Zsa, Leon returns to Walford looking for her after she runs away. He performs as a stripper at Bianca Jackson
Bianca Jackson
Bianca Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Patsy Palmer. The character was introduced by executive producer Leonard Lewis and appeared initially from 1993 to 1999, when Palmer opted to leave. In 2002 executive producer John Yorke brought the character...
's (Patsy Palmer
Patsy Palmer
Patsy Palmer is an English actress. Palmer made an early television appearance on the children's drama show Grange Hill, but is best known for playing Bianca Jackson in the popular British television soap opera EastEnders. Originally in the cast from 1993–1999, Palmer returned to EastEnders in...
) hen party. After the party, Zainab Masood
Zainab Masood
Zainab Masood is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by comedienne Nina Wadia. She made her first appearance on 16 July 2007.-Backstory:...
(Nina Wadia
Nina Wadia
-Television and film:Wadia first came to prominence in BBC sketch show Goodness Gracious Me, playing characters such as Mrs "I can make it at home for nothing!" and one half of The Competitive Mothers...
) catches him in bed with Lucy. Lucy tries to break Leon and Zsa Zsa up when they are kissing in The Queen Victoria
The Queen Victoria
The Queen Victoria is a fictional Victorian public house in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders. It has the fictional address of 46 Albert Square, Walford, London E20.-Appearance and development:...
public house, managing to drag Leon back to her house until her father Ian Beale
Ian Beale
Ian Albert Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Adam Woodyatt. He is the longest-serving character and the only remaining original character to have appeared continuously since the first episode on 19 February 1985...
(Adam Woodyatt
Adam Woodyatt
Adam Brinley Woodyatt is an English actor and media personality, best known for his role as Ian Beale in the long-running BBC soap opera EastEnders...
) interrupts them and asks Leon to leave. Lucy watches Leon and Zsa Zsa around the Square and reveals to her stepmother Jane (Laurie Brett
Laurie Brett
Laurie Brett is a Scottish actress, currently known for her role as Jane Beale in EastEnders, in which she has starred since 2004.-Personal life:...
) that she is pregnant. Leon humiliates Whitney Dean
Whitney Dean
Whitney Dean is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, played by Shona McGarty. The character is the adoptive daughter of long-running character Bianca Jackson , and was introduced in April 2008 when Palmer returned to the series after a six year absence...
(Shona McGarty
Shona McGarty
Shona Bernadette McGarty is an English actress from Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, best known for her role in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, as Whitney Dean.-Career:...
) by filming her cleaning a bench in the Square and sending it to people, so when she hears Ian talking about the pregnancy, she decides to tell Leon. He confronts Lucy in The Queen Victoria and asks if the baby is his. They meet the next day and he says he is willing to go with her to get an abortion, but she lies that the baby is not his. When Leon demands the truth, Lucy tells him she had an abortion.
Zsa Zsa receives gifts from someone calling themselves "The Blue Masquerader" and Leon grows jealous. Leon and Fatboy eventually discover that Peter has been sending the gifts. Lucy helps Peter to split up Leon and Zsa Zsa but after Peter changes his mind, Lucy reveals to Zsa Zsa that Leon got her pregnant. Zsa Zsa breaks up with Leon and his attempts to win her back fail. Leon moves back in with his father but moves out again when he beats Leon after finding out he got Lucy pregnant. Leon tells Fatboy he is staying with someone but later sneaks back into 89b George Street. He helps Whitney with her T-shirt printing and flirts with her and kisses her, but she does not reciprocate as she has a boyfriend, Billie Jackson (Devon Anderson
Devon Anderson
Devon Carlo Anderson is an English actor who has been acting since an early age and became a CBBC presenter on BBC One and the CBBC Channel...
). He later tells Peter and Fatboy about it, and subsequently Lucy finds out and tells Billie, which leads to him ending his relationship with Whitney, who knees Leon in the groin while Fatboy attempts to get Leon and Zsa Zsa back together, as Leon has not been himself since they split up.
Leon, Fatboy and Peter plan to go to a party in Hampshire, but Lucy, Whitney and Zsa Zsa offer Leon a night out in the woods instead, planning revenge getting Lucy pregnant and lying to Zsa Zsa. In the woods, Zsa Zsa comes out with pig's blood on her hands saying that she has been attacked. Knowing that it is a plan, Leon runs away and drunkenly ventures into the dark woods, cutting his hand. The next day the gang discover that Lucy let Leon run off and he was out all night. Peter and Fatboy then fear they hit Leon with the van the night before. Fatboy gets a voicemail from Leon saying he is hurt, and when he calls back, Zsa Zsa finds Leon's mobile phone in the leaves, smeared with blood. They decide to go to the police but Leon turns up, having been in police custody over night for being drunk. Leon reveals that Lucy had an abortion and they all realise that Lucy was trying to turn them against him, so on their return to Walford, they play a prank on Lucy, leaving her humiliated. However, Lucy reveals to her father that they are squatting in one of his properties and he evicts them.
After Fatboy breaks a tree in Albert Square, Leon helps to replace it but is horrified to discover the body of Owen Turner
Owen Turner
Owen Turner is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Lee Ross. He originally appeared in the show in 2006, and then returned in 2009. His character left in 2009 after being murdered by Lucas Johnson.-Storylines:...
(Lee Ross
Lee Ross
Lee D. Ross is the Stanford Federal Credit Union Professor of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University, and an influential social psychologist who has studied attribution theory, attributional biases, decision making and conflict resolution, often with longtime collaborator Mark Lepper...
) buried beneath it. The next day Zsa Zsa makes a joke when Leon speaks after a prolonged silence, causing Leon to walk out. She finds him to apologise, as she had not realised the discovery had affected him badly. He then recalls the day his mother died in a car crash when it took an hour for firemen to cut him free and he was unable to lean over to close his mother's eyes. He admits to Zsa Zsa that he sometimes feels alone. He fails most of his GCSE exams. Months later he flirts with Glenda Mitchell
Glenda Mitchell
The following is a list of characters who first appeared or are due to appear in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 2010, by order of first appearance...
(Glynis Barber
Glynis Barber
Glynis Barber is a South African actress of Afrikaner descent, born and brought up in South Africa. She was born Glynis van der Riet. When she was five years old, her parents divorced, and she and her mother moved to Johannesburg. She is best known for her portrayal as Sgt...
) in the local bookmaker's and agree to meet later. He obtains two tickets to a music festival in France and plans to take Zsa Zsa, but he reveals to Fatboy that he slept with Glenda, who tells Mercy, who then tells Zsa Zsa. Zsa Zsa asks Leon if he has seen anyone else but he says no. Zsa Zsa then seduces Leon in Fatboy's van before throwing him out in his underwear and leaving Walford for France. Leon decides that as his bags are packed he will go to France anyway, hinting that he will follow Zsa Zsa to apologise and resume their relationship. Before leaving, he tells Fatboy that he will always be his best friend and they continue to stay in touch.
Development
Leon is one of four characters created for the first series of EastEnders: E20 who also appear in EastEnders. Along with the other characters from E20, he was created by the show's 13 writers during a summer school run by the BBC in August 2009. Open auditions for the cast were held at Theatre Royal Stratford EastTheatre Royal Stratford East
The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company.-History:...
, and Attwater's casting was announced on 25 November 2009, on which he said "It is a great privilege to be working with such great actors and on such an established show. It's an amazing opportunity and I'm really enjoying tackling a character like Leon who has so much going on!"
The first scene Attwater filmed was of him in his underwear, the first of six semi-naked scenes that were filmed for EastEnders: E20. Attwater said he felt pressure to be in shape for the part and prepared by attending a gym, saying "I want to be on the best form." Leon is also a dedicated boxer, but Attwater had never boxed before. His boxing scenes in EastEnders: E20 were filmed with a stuntman who Attwater was allowed to hit as much as was necessary.
Leon is described as sexy, effortlessly cool, with a short fuse and a lack of respect for those in authority. His mother died when he was a child and he was left in charge of his alcoholic father. In an interview with entertainment website Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
, Attwater said the character is strong-minded, going on to say: "He's a boxer, he wins in the ring and he has a way with the ladies. He can talk most into bed! That's his strong attribute! Leon's mum died when he was young, and that was a big thing for him. His relationship with his father's quite rocky, so I think that's where his weakness lies, in his family life. He tries to push that away as much as possible." He said that during EastEnders: E20, "[y]ou see his strengths and weaknesses and by the end of it, he becomes quite a rounded character, which is taken on into the main series."
Along with his co-stars Emer Kenny
Emer Kenny
Emer Gwynne Morganna Kenny is an English actress from Haringey, London, best known for her role in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and its online spin-off EastEnders: E20, as Zsa Zsa Carter.-Career:...
and Ricky Norwood
Ricky Norwood
Richard Colin "Ricky" Norwood is a British actor who plays Fatboy in the soap opera EastEnders and its online spin-off EastEnders: E20. He was born in Tower Hamlets, London, and lives in Forest Gate. From the age of 12 he attended the Theatre Royal Stratford East's Youth Theatre, and he also...
, Attwater's initial contract was extended to six months, and he hoped for it to be extended further, however, on 11 May 2010, his departure from the show was announced, along with that of Kenny, who played Leon's girlfriend Zsa Zsa Carter
Zsa Zsa Carter
Zsa Zsa Carter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders and its Internet spin-off EastEnders: E20, played by Emer Kenny. She made her first appearance in EastEnders on 5 January 2010 and appears in all twelve episodes of the first series of EastEnders: E20...
. The new executive producer of EastEnders, Bryan Kirkwood
Bryan Kirkwood (producer)
Bryan Kirkwood is a Scottish-born British television producer. He was the producer of teen Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks from 2006 until 2009 and has been the executive producer of the BBC soap EastEnders since 2010.- Personal life :...
, said "Emer and Sam have made a real impact in the short time they've been on the Square and we wish them all the best for the future."
Other appearances
Leon also appears in extra content on the official EastEnders: E20 website. In one video, he catches Fatboy singing along to the Destiny's ChildDestiny's Child
Destiny's Child was an American R&B girl group whose final line-up comprised lead singer Beyoncé Knowles alongside Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. Formed in 1997 in Houston, Texas, Destiny's Child members began their musical endeavors in their pre-teens under the name Girl's Tyme...
hit "Bootylicious
Bootylicious
"Bootylicious" is a song by American R&B group Destiny's Child. It was written and produced by Rob Fusari, Falonte Moore, and band member Beyoncé Knowles for the band's third studio album Survivor , and contains a prominent sample from the 1981 recording "Edge of Seventeen," as written and...
" on webcam, and in another he is caught posing by Fatboy, who threatens to post the video on the Internet. A third video shows Leon filming Zsa Zsa as they mess around with their camera phones, ending with a kiss. Leon also makes a cameo appearance in the first episode of series 2 of EastEnders: E20, in which he punches Sol Levi
Sol Levi
Solomon "Sol" Levi is a fictional character from EastEnders: E20, an Internet spin-off off the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Tosin Cole. Sol is a main character in series 2, where he is joined by his older brother Asher Levi and their new friends Naz Mehmet and Stevie Dickinson...
(Tosin Cole) in the face after he gets involved in an argument between Fatboy and Naz Mehmet
Naz Mehmet
Nazan "Naz" Mehmet is a fictional character from EastEnders: E20, an Internet spin-off from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Emaa Hussen. Naz is a main character in series 2, where she is joined by brothers Asher and Sol Levi , and Stevie Dickinson...
(Emaa Hussen).
Reception
In her review of the first six months of 2010 in British soap operas, Ruth Deller from lowculture.co.ukLowculture
lowculture.co.uk is a UK television website founded in January 2003 by Paul Lang, who currently works as the art director of Doctor Who Adventures.-Purpose:...
wrote about Leon, "As someone who didn't watch E20 and therefore has no idea what backstory, if any, these characters had, Leon is probably the worst of the new gang – no family on the square, no distinctive personality, no plotline beyond impregnating Lucy Beale. The most interesting thing about him was when it looked like Peter Beale had run him over [...], and even that turned out to be nothing. [I] can't say [L]eon will be missed." A writer for The Northern Echo
The Northern Echo
The Northern Echo is a leading daily regional morning newspaper, serving the North East of England. The paper is based in Priestgate, Darlington. Its covers national as well as regional news. It is one of the UK's most famous provincial newspaper titles....
wondered if Leon, along with Fatboy and Zsa Zsa, brought a new injection of life into the soap or took away screen time from more established characters. In May 2010, Attwater received a nomination in the "Best Soap Newcomer" category at the 14th TVChoice Awards for his portrayal of Leon.