EastEnders newbie Jonny Labey has said his character Paul Coker will be “excited” by Ben Mitchell when they meet.

Paul is set to be a regular character in the BBC One soap and a new love interest for Ben (Harry Reid) when he arrives to stay with his grandparents Les and Pam after a stint abroad.

According to Digital Spy, Jonny said of his new alter-ego: “I thought that Paul fancies the harder, bigger, muscly tattooed guys, but Ben’s got this Mitchell persona with the stuff he does, the things he gets up to and the arguments he gets involved in.

EastEnders
Ben (Harry Reid) and Paul (Jonny Labey) will become involved (BBC)

“That all excites Paul. He’s drawn to that, as well as the tease of trying to get Ben to come out because obviously he’s still involved with Abi. He enjoys that, it’s playful.”

Asked about how Ben’s dad Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) would react if he found out about the blossoming relationship, he said: “That script will be interesting when it comes. The best thing for me is that the families which Paul is involved in are so one scale or the other.”

He revealed that Paul had not had much to do with the rest of the Mitchells so far: “I’ve not really interacted with the other Mitchells because Ben is trying to fight between what he loves – is it men, or is it women? He’s not willingly open to introduce Paul to any of his other family.”