Davood Ghadami, who played Kush Kazemi on EastEnders until the character’s death in 2021, has reportedly “left his wife” for his panto co-star.
The 42-year-old actor starred in Aladdin over Christmas 2023, working with 32-year-old Melanie Barker who played Princess Jasmine. While the duo- who were both married- played enemies on stage, it seems they struck up a romantic relationship on the job.
According to The Sun, strictly Come Dancing star Davood “flirted” with Melanie while on the job, and the pair kept in touch after the show ended.
Now, the couple have reportedly left their spouses and moved in together. Davood and his wife share two children while Melanie has three kids, which she has brought to live with the actor in Essex.
An insider shared: “They are two very attractive people and it was clear they had sizzling on-stage chemistry together. There was a lot of flirting backstage and I’m sure Aladdin wouldn’t have been happy that Princess Jasmine was giggling with Abanazar behind his back.”
They added: “But the genie is now well and truly out of the bottle and they are a proper couple – living together, training together and posting photos on Instagram together. It’s almost like a perfect fairytale ending – but for the previous partners they have left in their wake.”
The showbiz duo now post plenty of photos together on social media, showing themselves cuddling up. Prior to his relationship with Melanie, however, Davood gushed over his wife.
The actor married Isobel back in 2010, and the couple share two daughters: Eve, born in 2012, and Grace, born in 2015.
He told Woman magazine in 2018: “My wife and I know each other inside out and have a genuine understanding about how the other ticks. We met 17 years ago at university so we’ve got a lot of shared history.
“I’m an incredibly lucky man. My life couldn’t be the way it is without her support. She was amazing when I was in Strictly and kept everything going.”
When Davood took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, he was partnered up with pro dancer Nadiya Bychkova. The duo was plagued by rumours of the infamous Strictly ‘curse’ – with judge Bruno Tonioli even claiming their samba looked like a “race to the bedroom”.
But Davood hit back at any suggestions infidelity at the time, saying that he and Isobel knew the truth behind the dances on screen.
“People will say things. As long as you know the truth and the people you love know the truth it shouldn’t matter. I guess I did learn that,” he said.
“My wife watches Kush on the TV pretending to be married to or sleeping with another character. So she is used to dealing with this sort of situation in my professional life.
“She is the rock, the steadiness in my life and she knows that. I’m incredibly lucky. She is so supportive.”