Dean Gaffney is determined to return to EastEnders and hit the 1000 episode milestone

Since Dean Gaffney first joined the cast of EastEnders in 1998, he has made 978 appearances as Robbie Jackson on the BBC soap opera. The actor, who last performed in Albert Square in 2019, will keep coming back and hitting the four-digit milestone

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Dean Gaffney stars in Eastenders in 2017

Dean Gaffney revealed he is determined to return to EastEnders so he can rack up 1,000 episodes.

The 44-year-old has made 978 appearances since starting out as Robbie Jackson in 1993. His last scenes were in 2019.

Dean said, “I’m going to get the 1000th episode because I’ll probably go back.

“I went back and forth like a yo-yo at EastEnders five or six times. Probably the best of all the actors on the show. My first stint was almost 11 years old, I think I had about 700 episodes back then.

“It’s very easy to collect these episodes when you’re playing in them. But unless you’re Danny Dyer and you’re at the Queen Vic, you won’t be in every episode.”

Dean became a household name after joining EastEnders as schoolboy Robbie, who was always spotted with loyal Alsatian Wellard.

He left in 2004 but reappeared in 2010, 2015 and from 2017 to 2019.

Robbie left Walford to look after son Sami who had an accident in India.

Dean said of his role in a soap opera, “It’s a very simple act. All they ask of you is to be on time and to know your text.

“Now that you’re getting paid per episode, most people will take a look [at the scripts] and say, ‘Brilliant, I’m in the episode but I don’t have much. I can play golf.’”

Dad-of-two Dean admitted joining the soap “changed my life.”

He told that Matt Haycox Show Podcast : “Who knows where I would be if I didn’t have this show? Working at Burger King?”

Dean has been linked to a Russian model named Valerina, who is 25, the same age as his twin daughters Chloe and Charlotte. He split from her mother Sarah Barge in 2015 after 22 years.

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