The EastEnders star who gave it up a life of TV fame to become a football pundit
An EastEnders‘ actor who was a bartender in the soap’s iconic Queen Vic pub turned his back on the show to become a football pundit.
Tom Watt was aged 29 when he was part of EastEnders’ original cast in 1985, but made his final regular appearances as George ‘Lofty’ Holloway, who had been heartbroken when his love Michelle Fowler had an abortion, three years later.
He left it all for a career as a sports journalist, working for talkSPORT, Channel 4, and the BBC.
Lofty, one of the 26 EastEnders regulars at the show’s outset, first appeared in episode three of the BBC institution.
The character, so named after his above-average height, returned to the programme after 31 years in 2019 and 2022 at the funerals of Dr Harold Legg and Dot Cotton respectively.
Tom Watt (left) played George ‘Lofty’ Holloway for the first three years of EastEnders from 1985
He gave up the role and pursued a career as football journalist, including working for his beloved Arsenal, and ghostwriting David Beckham’s autobiography
Lofty returned to EastEnders in 2019 and 2022 for small appearances at the funerals of Dr Harold Legg and Dot Cotton respectively
Before those cameos, Watt had established himself as a football pundit.
He presented the drivetime show Season Ticket on radio station talkSPORT for over four years from 1998, after which he presented BBC London’s live weekend football coverage.
After seven years at the BBC, he became presenter of weekly show Fans’ Forum for his team’s online channel – Arsenal TV – until it was discontinued in 2013.
He also wrote for the club’s matchday programme.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Watt’s career change was his job as ghostwriter for David Beckham’s 2002 autobiography My Side.
More recently, the pundit has worked as a presenter for BT Sport – now TNT Sports – and a writer and consultant for EA Sports.
But despite his successful career in sport, he still looks back fondly on his time on EastEnders.
Appearing on Channel 4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch in 2022 Watt said: ‘Lofty was a really rewarding character to play – a beautiful mix of comedy and proper drama.
‘I had really good working relationships with people like Leslie Grantham, Anita Dobson, and Susan Tully,’ he added.
And in 2019, he said that he was happy to be making his return.
On This Morning he said: ‘I really enjoyed going back to do it, acting’s something I love doing I’m just not great waiting for the phone to ring and I’m out of town.
‘They came along with this and I’ve got to say it wasn’t just ”oh let’s get someone from the past back,” it was really well-written absolutely the right thing that Lofty was there for the funeral.’
