'I only wish I was there for more...' Ricky Groves opens up on EastEnders return
Ricky Groves returned to 'EastEnders' on Wednesday night (12.02.25) and the actor admits he wishes his stay on Albert Square could've been longer.
Ricky Groves wishes his brief 'EastEnders' comeback was longer.
The 56-year-old actor was seen as his character Garry Hobbs in the BBC One soap on Wednesday night (12.02.25) for the first time since he left in August 2009 as he and Minty Peterson (Cliff Parisi) surprised Billy (Perry Fenwick) and Honey (Emma Barton) at their joint stag and hen night.
Ricky was delighted to be back on Albert Square ahead of the show celebrating its 40th anniversary, but he would have liked a longer stay in Walford.
Speaking about what it felt like to return, he said: "[It was] a privilege. An absolute privilege. It was a lovely day.
"It felt weird because I hadn’t been there for years so it was great to see my old buddies.
"It was great to meet some of the newer cast. I only wish I was there for more."
The scene saw the fan favourites join team stag - which included Billy, Alfie Moon (Shane Richie), George Knight (Colin Salmon) and Teddy Mitchell (Roland Manookian) - as they battled it out against team hen - featuring his ex-wife Lynne Slater's grandmother Mo Harris (Laila Morse), Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) and Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) in a football quiz.
Viewers learned that Garry has become a broadcaster and is living with Minty.
When asked about what he makes of where his alter ego has ended up, Ricky admitted: "I don’t know where they came up with that idea but we were always a double act towards the end.
"We always said that 'EastEnders' is a bit like Shakespeare.
"You have your comedy characters, tragedy characters and you have your love characters and your revenge characters.
"You have got all those things to play around with.
"Garry and Minty were the Laurel and Hardy of the 2000s."
Ricky's character left in 2010 as Garry sailed off into the sunset with his now ex-wife Dawn Swann (Kara Tointon), and Cliff's character departed a few months later, with viewers hoping he and Garry would reconnect and reunite following his pal's marriage breakdown.
The pair have kept in touch since leaving Walford, and Ricky said the chemistry between the two was easy to recreate.
He said: "It was because I don’t think it ever went away.
"We still keep in touch and it came very naturally.
"We worked together for such a long time, so it’s kind of like putting on a pair of old shoes.
"It was great, the chemistry came back within minutes."
