EastEnders' George Knight and his son Junior Knight have left fans scratching their heads over their onscreen and offscreen ages. The BBC soap recently introduced actor Micah Balfour as Junior, the estranged eldest son of Colin Salmon's character George. He made his first appearance this week in a dramatic twist, reuniting the father and son after years apart.
While some viewers were thrilled with the news and the casting of the role, others suggested that there wasn't a significant enough age gap between the actors. Despite Colin being nearly 20 years older than Micah, confusion about the characters' ages had some fans questioning how old Junior was supposed to be.
Colin is believed to have been born in 1961, which would make him 62 years old. As for his onscreen son Micah, his birth year is thought to be either 1978, making him 45. The age gap between the actors is approximately 17 years, but the soap hasn't confirmed how old George was when he fathered Junior, reports the Mirror.
It's speculated that onscreen George was born in 1967, based on a recent storyline about his childhood. If this is accurate, then George would be 57 years old, slightly younger than actor Colin. As for Junior, the soap hasn't specified his age or birth year, but according to a fan page, Junior is 38 years old.
In reality, there's a 19-year age gap between the father and son characters, which should clear up any confusion about whether the actors are too close in age to play these roles. It's believed that there's nearly a 20-year difference between the characters, and a similar number in real life.
Some fans had questioned if actor Micah appeared older than his character's supposed age, but this would only be by a few years if the character's age is accurate. The casting announcement caused some confusion, with a handful of viewers suggesting that Micah didn't seem young enough to play George's son.
"#EastEnders Why are we just hearing about Junior now? George and Cindy/Rose are roughly the same age firstly he must have been a young dad if you do the math," one fan wrote.
However, the age details imply that George became a father with his ex-partner when they were both quite young, possibly in their teens. EastEnders announced earlier this month that The Bill star Micah Balfour would be joining the soap as Junior Knight, and in scenes this week, George came face-to-face with his estranged son in the boxing ring.
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
