You’ll Definitely Recognise Fabrizio Santino For This Fan-Favourite Role

A new year means new storylines for EastEnders, and there’s going to be a lot of drama in 2023 thanks to one particular character. British-Italian actor Fabrizio Santino will be making his Albert Square debut on Jan. 9. His character Brett is described as an “enigmatic” figure who is set to cause havoc for Zack Hudson (played by James Farrar). Brett “drops a huge bombshell” that turns Zack’s “world upside down,” just as he’s gotten his life back on track with Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty). Tension is certainly set to rise between the two, but who is Fabrizio Santino, and where might we have seen him before?

Santino was born in Italy and raised in London and is best known for playing fan-favourite Ziggy Roscoe in the C4 soap Hollyoaks. The 40-year-old actor joined the cast in 2013 and lived in Liverpool with his on-screen brothers, played by Charlie Chapman and Alfie Sykes, while filming. The audition process for Hollyoaks was “massive,” according to the actor, with 2,000 other guys all vying for the role of Ziggy.

But Santino beat them and starred on the show until his character’s death in 2015. “When you’ve fought for something so hard and you end up getting it, it’s just a massive relief,” he told Digital Spy. Santino has said the role was his “biggest challenge”, but credits it for helping him “learn more about myself and my acting ability.”

You can find Santino on Instagram @officialfabsantino, where he shares his adventures abroad, acting gigs, and family life. There’s no sign of a significant other on his social media. Santino was previously linked to Summer Monteys-Fullam, who dated Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood for a time. Santino and Monteys-Fullam were spotted having a cosy picnic in a London park in August 2020, but neither confirmed the status of their relationship.