Comedian Richard Blackwood was praised following his on-screen debut in BBC soap EastEnders and especially during the high-profiled lead-up of the 'Who killed Lucy Beale?' week-long live showings.
It comes as a complete turn-around for the Londoner who recently revieled that after declairing himself bankrupt, he was close to committing suicide.
The former TV presenter, stand-up comedian and rapper was declared bankrupt 12 years ago, but said that this reversal of fortunates in his life and career saw him break down and cried when offered the role.
Blackwood, a former star of MTV and terrestrial TV, made the admission ahead of his first appearance in the popular show's 30th anniversary live episode on Tuesday evening.
He said: “It was hard for me because I was one of the first young guys from the MTV era to be deemed to have it all and then to lose it all.
I resigned myself to the fact that maybe this country wasn’t going to give me a role like this.
'When I got it I went back to my car and I started to cry. I couldn’t believe it. This break has changed my life.'
In 2000 he scored a top three single with Mama Who Da Man, which sold more than 200,000 copies in the first month of release. He later followed it up with a handful of more singles, which came from the ironically-titled album You'll Love To Hate This, which skimmed the Top Ten in 2000.
In 2011 the 42-year-old joined the cast on London musical Shrek, in which he played alongside Amanda Holden and Nigel Harman.
EastEnders bosses were tight-lipped about Blackwood's role, confirming only that he will play a villain in what is tipped to be an 'explosive' storyline.
Lucy Beale's killer? Now that's explosive.
