Lee Mead has signed a new 'Holby City' contract.
Lee Mead
The 37-year-old actor - who has eight-year-old daughter Betsy with ex-wife Denise Van Outen - loves playing nurse Lofty Chiltern in the medical drama series and so he's delighted to be staying on for a third year.
Speaking to BBC Radio 2 DJ Graham Norton, he said: "I'm still on screen - we shoot three months in advance, and I've just signed for a third year.
"I just love playing Lofty, he's a great character. I'm really happy there. We're filming at Elstree, so it's one hour from home back in Southend, and I've just got more of a life balance, and I love playing the role as well."
While he has a good "life balance", Lee admitted the nature of the show's storylines mean he often ends up with intense blocks of filming followed by a lengthy period of time off work.
He explained: "If you have a big storyline, you're there five days a week, 12 hours a day, but you can have two, three, four weeks where you're just off sat at home."
While Lofty was written especially for Lee, he still insisted on auditioning for the role because he wanted to "assure" himself he was up to the challenge.
He recently revealed: "I still insisted on an audition, mainly because I wanted to assure myself I could do something like that. When I was in 'Casualty' the filming was in Cardiff but they do 'Holby' in Elstree, London, so that's better for me in terms of getting back home.
"It can be quite intense, 12 hour days, if your character is involved in a main storyline, but I just love playing Lofty, he's a great character."
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