EastEnders’ Penny star stuns in snap alongside famous TV mum and footballer dad

EastEnders star Kitty Castledine s not the only well-known face in her family

EastEnders’ Kitty Castledine has been spotted enjoying a festive break with her famous family.

The 23-year-old actress made her debut on the BBC One soap as Penny Branning in January 2024, alongside her cousin Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa), after the pair had been living in Paris.

However, they quickly found themselves embroiled in a drug smuggling scandal, from which they managed to extricate themselves.

In August 2024, Penny was at the centre of a major catastrophe when a crowd crush occurred at Peggy’s Bar. As the club’s manager, Penny was overseeing ticket sales for her bank holiday event.

However, Chelsea Fox, played by Zaraah Abrahams, meddled with the booking system in retaliation for losing her job, leading to severe overcrowding at the venue and hospitalisation for Lauren and Amy Mitchell (Ellie Dadd), who both thankfully survived.

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Most recently, Penny had a brief fling with Harry Mitchell (Elijah Holloway) before discovering he was a suspect in a murder case following the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend, Shireen, who was actually killed by Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington), reports the Mirror.

On-screen, Penny is connected to Walford royalty, with Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) as her father and notorious womaniser Max (Jake Wood) as her uncle. But off-screen, Kitty hails from a famous family herself, being the daughter of a renowned television presenter and a professional footballer.

Kitty’s mum is Lucy Alexander, the presenter of Homes Under the Hammer and the Channel 4 show, A Place In The Sun.

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The soap actress’s father is former Premier League footballer Stewart Castledine, who played for Wimbledon for nine years and also represented Wycombe in the second tier.

Stewart has also made appearances on television, presenting BBC One’s Big Strong Boys and Houses Behaving Badly.

Their son, Leo Castledine, 20, is following in his father’s footsteps as a footballer and currently plays for Huddersfield Town on loan from Premier League club Chelsea. He has also represented England at the U19 level five times.

Lucy took to Instagram to share a stunning family photo with her husband, Stew, and their children, Kitty and Leo, during a festive break in Yorkshire.

In the caption, Lucy wrote: “Merry Christmas, everyone! A family Christmas day spent at the spectacular @grantleyhall_ with @kittycastledine @leo.castledine and Stew.”

She continued: “What a place and beautiful @grantleyarms also worth a stop off for a pint. Ripon Yorkshire is worth a visit. Can’t wait to return.”

Friends and fans of Lucy were quick to share their well-wishes, with Loose Women star Ruth Langsford commenting: “Gorgeous family snap! Merry Christmas!”, while Helen Skelton simply posted a love heart emoji.

Another added: “Fabulous photo of you all, Merry Christmas”, while another fan gushed: “Stunning family (love heart)”.

“Lovely Family Photo”, chimed in one follower, while another exclaimed, “Beautiful family.”

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One and iPlayer