Ex-EastEnders star Jack Ryder reveals he has a rockstar dad

Former EastEnders actor Jack Ryder has revealed he has famous roots as his dad is a rockstar whose band had a number of chart hits in the 1980s.

Ryder, now 44, played Albert Square heartthrob Jamie Mitchell from 1998 until 2002.

“My dad was a famous pop star in America in the Eighties and [ we have] talked about this a lot,” he told The Sun. “He never enjoyed fame and always found it confusing, and I think I felt much the same way.”

The actor’s dad Jeremy Allan Ryder, 77, who goes by the stage name Jack Hues, fronted the Eighties new wave band Wang Chung. The group is best known for its 1986 hit “Everybody Have Fun Tonight”, which peaked at 76 in the UK chart, but made it to number two in the US and number one in Canada.

Two of their earlier releases, “Don’t Let Go” and “Dance Hall Days”, topped the US Dance Chart in 1984. Wang Chung also contributed music to the 1985 classic film The Breakfast Club.

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The group disbanded in 1990 but have reunited multiple times in the years since and recorded a greatest hits album in 2017.

Ryder was just 16 years old when he was cast as EastEnders’ Jamie Mitchell, a troubled teenager who moved in with his godfather, Phil Mitchell. Many of Ryder’s storylines were linked to his character’s on-off relationship with Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy).

“Being a heartthrob was never something I really aligned with,” Ryder said. “I never quite understood it and I found it difficult to deal with, especially the frenzy of it all.”

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The actor decided to leave E20 behind in 2002 and his exit storyline – which was nominated for a British Soap Award – saw Jamie die in hospital after being run over by Martin Fowler.

In the years since, he has landed roles on the likes of Radio 4’s The Archers and Holby City. Ryder has also carved out a successful theatre directing career, working on the West End version of Calendar Girls, a touring production of The Full Monty, and Gary Barlow’s musicals The Girls and The Band.

In 2020, he released his first children’s book, Jack’s Secret Summer.