Emmerdale hunk Jay Kontzle admitted one of the strangest fan encounters left him washing “relentlessly for three days”.
The Billy Fletcher star, 33, is arguably one of the most beloved characters in the ITV village. The dad-of-three, who joined the soap in 2018, has had his fair share of nail-biting storylines on the long-running show.
This included everything from a tense hit-and-run storyline to being blackmailed by Gabby Thomas. It’s fair to say the doting dad has a huge fanbase of loyal viewers who have been cheering him on from day one.
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But this isn’t the actor’s first brush with fame. Back in 2012, the TV favourite was catapulted into the spotlight after his boyband the Mend made it through to the finals of Britain’s Got Talent.
(Image: PA)
Although they missed out on the top spot, with dancing dog Pudsey being that year’s champion, The Mend continued to play for some years afterward. The group later changed their name to Race the Horizon before then finally went their separate ways in 2016.
Now, the actor has opened up about one of the strangest fan encounters he has experienced throughout his time in the spotlight. In an interview with OK magazine!, the soap hunk confessed that one of his most unusual interactions took place when he was a member of the boyband.
He told the publication: “I’d say the strangest fan encounter I’ve had was probably when I was doing music. You’d have items of clothing thrown at you, which is really odd, especially if it doesn’t smell very nice.
(Image: ITV)
“I mean, when it hits you in the face and then you have to go home and have a shower and wash relentlessly for three days. That’s probably the worst one.”
Despite his gross interaction, the TV favourite has gone on to thrive on the long-running soap as the hunky personal trainer. Jay went on to admit that the best and worst parts about working on the show are the fiercely loyal fan base.
He went on: “The best and worst bit about being on Emmerdale is being on Emmerdale. You don’t stop getting mithered, do you?
(Image: ITV)
“There are incredible fans out there that are engrossed in the show, and they know a lot more about the show than I do, which kind of puts me in my place. But I’ve got a love for the fans and thank you so much for supporting.”
Most recently, fans have been showering the actor with praise during his current heartbreaking storyline. Last month, his character discovered his son Evan was diagnosed with Leukaemia which has rocked the village.
Following the bombshell diagnosis, Jay opened up about his two personal links to his on-screen son’s storyline. The actor currently has a family member of his own battling Leukaemia, making the shoot even harder to film.
(Image: Instagram)
Not only that, but the baby on the show is only six months older than his youngest child. Speaking to Daily Star and other press, he confessed: “I got told we were doing this story right around the time we were having a baby.
“It is quite difficult to play because one, you want to get it right and two, it is really worrying to think about because then you start thinking about the people that you know are going through certain things.
“I’ve got a family member now who has got Leukaemia and it’s quite difficult to think about at times because I know that his outcome isn’t going to be as good as the direction we’re going in.” Fans will have to stay tuned to see if little Evan will pull through on the ITV soap.
Emmerdale airs on weeknights from 7.30pm on ITV1 or catch up on ITVX.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
