EastEnders star's round island training swim

A former EastEnders star took on a round the island swim to help train for a 24-hour swimming challenge in Switzerland.

William Ellis who played villain Theo Hawthorne in the BBC soap in 2023 and has also been in The Crown and Doctor Who, is swimming the 70km (43.5 miles) length of Lake Geneva for a children's charity.

The keen swimmer said: "I knew that I would have to go above and beyond this time" as only 16 people have completed the challenge.

He told the BBC the 40 mile (65km) training swim around Jersey on Wednesday was "wonderful", with dolphins "all the way back to the finish" and support from the island's cross-Channel endurance swimmer Sally Minty-Gravett.

It is not the first time he has taken on the round-Jersey challenge as he completed it in 2023, ahead of his swim across the English Channel.

He said: "I knew it would be a good training swim. It is a tough swim, extremely technical as you have to swim with the tide… which obviously can run alarmingly fast at times.

"It's a super swim to be able to do and of course, a privilege to be here doing it."

Minty-Gravett has known him for many years, having babysat for him when he was a child and has been a guest on his swimming podcast.

The Swiss challenge in August will be in water temperatures of around 16C to19C, without a wetsuit.

Ellis said: "Raising money for a cause which is so close to home makes every stroke easier."

The money will go towards buying equipment at the SEND school his six-year-old son attends.

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