page_title: List of EastEnders characters (2010)
section_title: Grace Olubunmi
hierarchical_section_title: List of EastEnders characters (2010) / Grace Olubunmi
caption_attribution_description: English: Actress Ellen Thomas at the EastEnders Meet and Greet event at BBC Elstree Centre.
context_page_description: The following are characters who first appeared, or returned, in the BBC soap opera EastEnders during 2010 listed by order of first appearance. Executive producer Diederick Santer left EastEnders on 26 February 2010, handing over to Bryan Kirkwood, who fully took control from 1 March 2010.
  Santer introduced five new main characters in January, three from the online spin-off EastEnders: E20 as well as two members of the long-established Mitchell family, Glenda Mitchell and her son Danny. February saw the show's first birth of 2010, with Kamil Masood, the fourth child of the established Zainab Masood and Masood Ahmed. The character of Harvey Freeman was introduced in April, and the fourth main character from EastEnders: E20, Mercy Olubunmi, joined EastEnders in May. Kirkwood's first major casting was Zöe Lucker in the role of Vanessa Gold and later cast her daughter Jodie and husband Harry, as well as Mercy's grandmother Grace, all of whom appeared in June. June also saw the show's second birth of the year, that of Lily Branning, the daughter of Stacey Branning and Ryan Malloy. In September, Richard Mitchell became the third birth of the year, born to Sam Mitchell and Jack Branning.
context_section_description: Grace Olubunmi is the grandmother of Mercy Olubunmi (Bunmi Mojekwu). She appears in episode 8 of the first series of EastEnders spin-off EastEnders: E20, credited only as Mrs Olubunmi and played by Jay Byrd. New executive producer Bryan Kirkwood introduced the character to EastEnders in his first episode on 4 June 2010, this time played by Ellen Thomas. She also appeared in series 3 of E20 along with Mercy's younger sister, Faith Olubunmi, who Grace sent to Nigeria to get back on the straight and narrow, but she returns to the UK and is worse than ever.
  In EastEnders: E20, Grace tells Mercy that her friend Fatboy (Ricky Norwood) is a bad influence on her. When the character arrives in EastEnders, she urges Mercy to tell Fatboy that they are moving to Lagos. She makes friends with Liz Turner (Kate Williams), mother of Owen Turner (Lee Ross) and later tells Fatboy about their plans. She hosts a lunch at the community centre and tells Lucas Johnson (Don Gilet) that she has grown fond of London but is going to Lagos for Mercy's sake. Fatboy then realises that neither Grace nor Mercy want to go and makes them realise this after Mercy has returned the key to their former home. Fatboy then says he has a plan for somewhere for them to live, and they move into a property on Albert Square. Grace attends a bible class with Mercy, held by Lucas. She apologises for Mercy's behaviour when she continues to ask about false prophets and a passage that states that anyone who questions a priest should be put to death, causing Lucas to leave. Grace makes Mercy write Lucas a letter of apology, but Mercy bins it.
  Upset with the amount of litter around the streets, she urges Mercy and Fatboy to volunteer to pick it up. She takes Mercy's friends Zsa Zsa Carter (Emer Kenny) and Leon Small (Sam Attwater) to get their GCSE results and says she used to be a teacher. The next month Leon breaks one of her commemorative plates and Fatboy tries to create a new one in the hope Grace will think it is real, but she does not fall for it. However, she praises Fatboy for his eventual honesty and displays the plate with her others. However, when she discovers Mercy has been serving drinks in Alfie Moon's (Shane Richie) illegal den, she berates her granddaughter and says Fatboy has corrupted her. Grace overhears Dot Branning (June Brown) planning to collect jumble for her church. Grace collects the jumble instead, leaving Dot upset. They quote bible passages to each other to try to show who is in the right, but Grace later admits that she is lonely and just wanted to meet new people. The next day, Mercy tries to get Grace and Dot to make up, by suggesting Grace work in the launderette. Grace puts some shirts in a broken washing machine, which annoys Dot, and after Grace gets it open Dot is still not happy. Grace later gives Dot her CV to give to her boss, and Dot says there is not a job for her but Grace tells her that Jesus disagrees.
  The next day, Grace asks Dot if she has looked at her CV yet. Dot says Grace is overqualified as she used to be a teacher. Grace says she will not be teaching again as she was dismissed from her last job. Later, Dot finds a tin of cakes in the launderette with a note from Grace saying it was not about the job. Dot visits Grace and offers her a few weeks work while Dot is away. Grace feels honoured, and tells Dot she was dismissed for slapping a pupil. Dot thanks her for her honesty. However, when Dot joins a local choir that Grace is a member of, the pair start quarrelling again, as Dot is unimpressed with the singing standard of the group. She later holidays in her native Nigeria but returns in time for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. She does not watch the wedding, however, as Mercy is leaving because she faces deportation. Grace and Mercy say goodbye to each other but as Mercy's taxi drives off, Fatboy stops it and asks Mercy to marry him. Grace is opposed to the idea at first, until she realises that Fatboy loves Mercy.
  After Mercy and Fatboy's wedding, Grace attends Mercy's hearing and is annoyed that they
caption: Grace is portrayed by Ellen Thomas, marking her third of four roles in the series.
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