EastEnders’ Ross Kemp to investigate dark world of child incels inspired by Adolescence in return to documentaries
ROSS Kemp is to tackle one of the most disturbing issues facing young people today – the rise of child incels and growing influence of “the manosphere”.
For years, Kemp has made a name for himself as one of Britain’s most fearless documentary makers.
From gangs and drug cartels to modern slavery and warzones, the EastEnders legend has built a reputation for tackling subjects many shy away from.
Now, he’s setting his sights on an emerging and deeply disturbing trend: the rise of child incels and the growing influence of toxic masculinity online.
The phenomenon has recently been brought into the spotlight with Netflix’s harrowing drama Adolescence, a series that lays bare how young boys are being radicalised by misogynistic online communities.
Real-life horrors, such as Kyle Clifford’s brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt, her mother, and her sister, have further demonstrated the deadly consequences of this toxic ideology.
Now, Kemp is determined to investigate the issue himself – if he can get the documentary commissioned.
Kemp has been researching the topic for some time, but as he knows all too well, getting a documentary like this off the ground is no easy feat.
“We’ve been researching something for some time but you’ve got to get it commissioned,” he says.
When Adolescence was released, it struck a nerve with the dad-of-four.
The Stephen Graham-led series tells the story of an ordinary family torn apart by the incel subculture, exposing how easily impressionable young boys can be lured into these toxic online spaces.
“Yeah, I thought it was brilliant,” Kemp says.
“The whole point of incels and what is happening out there has been brought to the attention of the public in a brilliant way.
“It’s something my team and I have been looking at for some time and I haven’t been able to make a documentary about it yet, but I still live in hope that we will.”
What makes the issue even more alarming, he says, is that it isn’t going away.
“I think it’s one of the biggest problems among young people. And I don’t think it’s just boys – obviously, boys are the perpetrators, but girls are the victims.
“As a father of both girls and boys, it’s something that is very much at the forefront of my thoughts.”
His concerns about social media aren’t just limited to incel communities.
He believes that the digital age has made young people more vulnerable than ever.
“There is a lot of people at a very, very delicate time in their lives, worried about how they look anyway because their bodies are changing, because they’re going through puberty.
“I think we are faced with a real real problem in terms of getting kids out their bedrooms, getting them into safe environments where they can just be young people and enjoy each other’s company.
“Without fear of being, you know, bullied or without fear of getting into a competition about how they look or what make of phone they have or, what particular house they come from or what car their parents drive or not having a parent.
“All the things that people can use to bully somebody effectively.
“I mean, I think that those people play into that insecurity and they give people a sense of identity.
“And I think what we need to do is as adults, we need to be looking what those people are doing online, but also thinking about seriously about how we get people, young people, out their bedrooms into safe environments where they can communicate as human beings should, not via a screen but face to face.”
As a father himself, the dangers of the online world are something he takes seriously.
He monitors his eldest child’s phone usage and believes that stricter regulations should be in place to protect young people from harmful content.
“I think it is something we should all be very much aware of. It’s not policed, in any way shape or form, so there are a lot of opinions out there, but that’s all they are.”
He adds: “I’ve had it with my older child. I monitor where his phone goes and what it does and what he downloads and what he looks at, as does his mum.
“And in my house, thankfully, we’ve sort of, I’m very much in favour of no phones at school.
“If you bring them into school and unless you need it for emergencies it should go in a box and then you can pick it up on the way out of school.”
Ross spoke to The Sun while encouraging everyone to take control of their energy usage with a smart meter, saying: “Honestly the average family saves around £140 a year – but that can be more, it’s up to you.”
He adds: “For instance, in the summer, one of my kids went up to a room that we don’t use that had an electronic towel radiator on it. So it was off clearly and they switched it on.
“And like it was like you know, doing five pound notes every 30 minutes.
“So I do think they’re good. It’s very accurate, and if you realise that things are on that don’t need to be on, then it gives you an indication to look for what it is and turn it off.”