Courtney Mitchell has been an on-off character in EastEnders since the 1990s
EastEnders legend Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) recently returned to Walford as part of the BBC soap’s 40th anniversary celebrations, and he instantly caused a stir among the locals.
The hardman surprised Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), who has been struggling with depression and heart-breaking suicidal thoughts, but refused to believe how bad his brother’s mental health was until it was too late.
Local loud-mouth Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer) wasted no time in butting heads with Grant, who refuses to forgive him for the death of his wife Tiffany (Martine McCutcheon), who was also her best friend.
In 1999, Tiffany met her maker after she was accidently hit by a car driven by Frank Butcher (Mike Reid) during an argument with Grant.
Nigel Bates (Paul Bradley) has also been under the impression that best pal Grant has been living in Portugal with his daughter Courtney, who he shared with Tiffany. But her whereabouts are currently unknown.
Courtney Mitchell was born in 1997 and is the re-occurring EastEnders character, with four actors taking on the role over the years.
When Courtney was welcomed onto the BBC soap, twin babies Carissa and Josephine O’Meara played the character between 1997 and 1999.
In 2005, Grant returned to Albert Square after a six-year hiatus and was joined by Courtney, now played by 11-year-old star Megan Jossa.
Their arrival came after Dirty Den (Leslie Grantham) was killed in The Queen Vic, and along with brother Phil, Grant had to save sister Sam (Kim Medcalf) from being blamed for the murder.
Sadly, the father-daughter duo didn’t stay around the East End for too long. In 2006, they fled the Square for a new life in Portugal.
During this time, Megan Jossa, the real-life cousin of Jacqueline Jossa, who plays Lauren Branning on the show, played Courtney.
Following her EastEnders exit Megan continued with her acting career and has has starred in a number of TV series including The Take, Coming Of Age and she also had a stint on the West End.
While on EastEnders, the youngster was nominated for the Best Young Actor award in 2006, and after leaving, she popped up in an episode of The Bill.
According to IMDB, her last TV appearance was in 2016 when she appeared as herself in the series Stage School which followed students and teachers at a performing arts school in South London.
In 2016, Grant and Courtney, now played by Alice Nokes, returned to Walford following the death of matriarch Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor).
During her four-week comeback, Courtney took a liking to Mark (Ned Porteous), not knowing he was her half-brother, as they shared the same dad.
Courtney and Grant (Ross Kemp) didn’t stick around long and left Walford, heading back to the Portugal hills, and Courtney hasn’t been seen on-screen since.
Alice, now 26, has also carved a successful career as a television star since her EastEnders stint, and she looks worlds apart from her role as Courtney Mitchell.
In 2016, she played Kim Nees in the series Suspicion before landing in BBC One drama Casualty in 2017.
In 2018, Alice appeared in the movies Grandpa’s Great Escape and The Crone before landing the part of Willa in Game of Thrones in 2019.
She then played Theresa in the television documentary The Killer Beside Me and starred as Rosie for one episode of Ted Lasso in 2020.
In 2020, Alice portrayed Anne Boleyn in The Spanish Princess and a year later arrived as Julie Pardoe in the series Dalgliesh.
In 2022, she appeared on Father Brown as Kate Goodall before playing the recurring role of Sophia Leigh in Wreck between 2022 and 2024.
EastEnders airs Monday – Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and iPlayer
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
