“EastEnders’ Kitty Castledine shares a rare snap of her famous footballer dad as the family marks his birthday.”
EastEnders actress Kitty Castledine has shared a touching tribute to her famous father in honour of his birthday.
The 23-year-old currently plays Penny Branning on the BBC One soap, having made her debut alongside her established cousin, Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa), in January 2024.
Previously, the pair had been living together in Paris before returning to London, where they found themselves arrested for drug smuggling—but ultimately avoided any charges.
Later that year, Penny faced legal trouble once more following a major incident at Peggy’s Bar. As the venue’s manager, she was responsible for ticket sales for an event, but Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams) tampered with the booking system, leading to dangerous overcrowding.
The nightclub disaster left several people injured and sent Lauren and Amy Mitchell (Ellie Dadd) to hospital, though fortunately both made a full recovery, reports OK!.
More recently, Penny had a short-lived romance with Harry Mitchell (Elijah Holloway) before discovering he was a murder suspect linked to the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend, who was actually killed by Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington).
On screen, Penny is connected to Albert Square’s upper echelons through her father, Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), while the notorious cheat Max (Jake Wood) is her scheming uncle. Off-screen, however, Kitty is the daughter of a professional footballer and a well-known television personality.
The soap star’s father is former Premier League footballer Stewart Castledine, who spent nine years with Wimbledon and also played for Wycombe in the Championship.
Stewart has also appeared on television, hosting BBC One’s Big Strong Boys and Houses Behaving Badly, and has modelled for fashion labels including DKNY and Topman.
On Thursday (January 22), Kitty posted a sweet photo of Stewart on her Instagram story while celebrating his birthday with a meal out. She captioned the snap: “The birthday king! Happy Birthday Dad ❤️.”
Kitty’s mother is Lucy Alexander, known for presenting Homes Under the Hammer and Channel 4’s Place In The Sun.
Stewart and Lucy are said to have married in 2000 in Richmond, London, after being introduced by a mutual friend.
The couple have two children: Kitty and their son Leo Castledine, 20, who is also a professional footballer and currently plays for Middlesbrough.
Prior to his current deal, Leo spent time on loan at Huddersfield Town from Premier League side Chelsea and has represented England at U19 level five times.
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