Joe Swash

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Joseph Adam Swash (born 1982)^[1] is an English actor and television presenter, best known for his role of Mickey Miller in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders and various presenting roles with ITV2. He won the eighth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2008 and the twelfth series of Dancing on Ice in 2020.

Swash studied at Highbury Grove School in Islington, and attended Anna Scher Theatre School.^[2]

When Swash was seven, he made his first television appearance in an Andrex advertisement. In 1991 when he was nine years old he played the role of a little boy pretending to be an orphan in You Rang, M'Lord? then when he was eleven he was cast in the film The Adventures of Pinocchio, as The Fighting boy with Dawn French and Griff Rhys Jones and co-starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Richard Claxton and Correy Carrier. His character, known as Fighting Boy because he scuffled with Lampwick over a gun, was turned into a donkey after going on a Roller Coaster. He made minor appearances in several television series such as Casualty, The South Bank Show, The Bill, "Soldier Soldier" and Nickelodeon's LOL: Laugh Out Loud. In 2002, Joe Swash appeared as a participant in the ITV documentary Club Reps.^[3]

Swash was about to give up on the idea of becoming an actor when he gained a role in BBC One soap opera EastEnders. He was cast as Mickey Miller and made his first appearance in EastEnders in April 2003 as a recurring character. Owing to a positive viewer reception, producer Louise Berridge turned Mickey into a regular character, and his on-screen family arrived a year later, including Mickey's little sister Demi, played by Swash's real sister, Shana. His son, Harry Swash, also appeared in the soap as his niece Summer Swann for a minimal period. On 26 February 2008, it was announced that Joe Swash, along with the actor who plays his stepfather, David Spinx, were being written out of EastEnders in a "big explosive storyline". He made his final appearance in July 2008. Since the announcement of his departure, Swash has been critical of the direction producers took with his character. He has blamed his three-month screen absence in 2005 on Mickey becoming little more than "light-relief".^[4]

However, he has expressed an interest in returning.^[5] He later reprised his role of Mickey Miller for two episodes on 19 and 20 September 2011, in order to coincide with his on screen brother's departure from the soap.

In November 2008, Swash entered the Australian jungle to appear in the eighth series of the British reality show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, which he went on to win.^[6]

From 2009 onwards, Swash has been part of the presenting team on the spin-off series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, NOW!. He co-presented the show with Caroline Flack (2009–2010), Russell Kane (2009–2011), Laura Whitmore (2011–2015), Rob Beckett (2012–2014) and David Morgan (2015).

In 2016, the show was renamed I'm a Celebrity: Extra Camp. Swash has co-presented this show with Vicky Pattison (2016), Stacey Solomon (2016), Chris Ramsey (2016), Joel Dommett (2017–2018) and Scarlett Moffatt (2017–2018). On 20 July 2019, it was confirmed that Swash had left the show and would not return for the series that year.^[7]

In January 2020, Swash appeared as a contestant on the twelfth series of Dancing on Ice. Swash was partnered with Alexandra Schauman from week 1 until she sustained an injury in week 3. He was re-partnered with Alex Murphy in week 4. Swash and Murphy went on to win the series, beating Perri Kiely and his partner Vanessa Bauer.^[8]

In 2009, Swash, along with ex-rugby player Austin Healey, appeared in the second series of Hole in the Wall, as a team captain.

In 2010, he was a team captain on What Do Kids Know? with Rufus Hound and Sara Cox on Watch.

In 2011, Swash presented the children's show Gimme A Break on the CBBC Channel. In 2011, Swash and Caroline Flack worked on ITV2 game show Minute to Win It as team captains. In November 2011 Driving Academy aired on the CBBC Channel, with Swash as presenter/narrator. In 2014, a brand new series was aired with celebrities taking part called Celebrity Driving Academy.

In 2013 and 2014, Swash was a regular team captain on ITV2 panel show Fake Reaction. In 2016, he joined the line-up on The Jump as a contestant.

In 2021, Swash appeared on the cooking show Celebrity Masterchef, when he made the final 3.

In 2023, he appeared in I'm a Celebrity... South Africa.^[9]

Swash subsequently performed as Buttons in the pantomime Cinderella, at the Central Theatre in Chatham, Medway.

In 2009 and 2010, he appeared in the pantomime 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' in Bristol.

In February 2009, Swash and TV presenter Tim Vincent broke a Guinness World Record for throwing the most pancakes to a partner as part of a challenge on Channel 4's The Paul O'Grady Show.

Swash was forced to take a three-month break from EastEnders in 2005 after he contracted meningoencephalitis.^[10]

On 16 June 2007, Swash's fiancée, Emma Sophocleous, gave birth to their first child, a boy.^[11] On 19 January 2008, it was announced the couple had separated.^[12] On 3 November 2009, Swash was declared bankrupt by London's High Court after failing to pay a £20,000 tax bill. Swash's agent Becca Barr said it was a mix-up and the actor was not in financial difficulty.^[13]

Swash started dating Stacey Solomon in January 2016, after meeting on I'm a Celebrity several years previously. In 2019, the two announced that they were expecting their first child together, joining their family of Swash's son and Solomon's two sons. In May 2019, Solomon gave birth to their first child together, a boy.^[14]

Swash and Solomon got engaged on 24 December 2020, after being together for five years.^[15] In July 2021 the pair announced they were expecting a baby girl.^[16] On 5 October 2021 Stacey announced on Instagram that the baby had been born.^[17] On 24 July 2022 they were married in a small ceremony held at their home, Pickle Cottage, in Essex.^[18]

On 28 December 2022, Solomon announced she was eight months pregnant with her fifth child and third with Swash.^[19] The couple announced the birth of their second daughter on 11 February 2023.^[20]

• Joe's Kitchen. Glasgow: Pavilion Books. 13 October 2022. ISBN 978-0008560720.

• Joe Swash at IMDb
• Joe Swash profile from Biogs.com