Davood Ghadami
Davood Ghadami (; born 7 August 1982) is an English actor. Following his appearances in "Taggart" in 2010, he appeared in the BBC medical programmes "Doctors" and "Casualty" in recurring roles. In 2014, he began portraying the role of Kush Kazemi in the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", a role he stayed in until 2021 when the character was killed off. Following Ghadami's departure from "EastEnders", it was announced that he had joined the cast of the BBC medical drama "Holby City" as Eli Ebrahimi. Early and personal life. Ghadami was born on 7 August 1982 in Harlow, Essex . He is of British and Iranian ancestry. He found it difficult at school, since being mixed race led to verbal bullying. He subsequently moved to Saint Nicholas School in Old Harlow. In 2010, Ghadami married long-term girlfriend Isobel; the pair have two daughters together. Career. In 2010, Ghadami portrayed the role of Duncan Clark in the final series of the ITV detective drama "Taggart". He found the role challenging, since it involved looking photos of genuine crime scenes. Following this, he appeared in the BBC soap opera "Doctors" in the recurring role of Aran Chandar from 2012 to 2013 . Then from 2013 to 2014, he appeared in the BBC medical drama "Casualty" as Ramin Tehrani. Other television credits include "Life's Too Short", "", "Skins Redux", "Doctor Who", "Top Boy", "Fast Freddie", "Silent Witness", "Criminal Justice" and "Spooks". On stage, he has played Amir in "13" at The National, as well as working for York Theatre Royal and Pilot Theatre. In 2014, Ghadami joined the cast of "EastEnders" as series regular Kush Kazemi, for which he won the award for Best Newcomer at the "TV Choice" Awards. He was also nominated for Best Newcomer and Best Actor at the British  Soap Awards. In August 2017, Ghadami was announced as a contestant for the fifteenth series of "Strictly Come Dancing". He was partnered with professional dancer Nadiya Bychkova. They were eliminated in week 11 of the competition, in the quarter-finals. In April 2021, it was announced that Ghadami had joined the cast of the BBC medical drama "Holby City" as Eli Ebrahimi.