An emotional Josh Bolt reveals his special memories of filming ITV hit Benidorm with his late co-star Bobby Knutt, who died aged 71 last month
Josh Bolt joined the cast of Benidorm two years ago playing young Rob Dawson, part of the new Dawson family who were holidaying at the Solana. The 23-year-old actor became very close to Bobby Knutt, who played Rob’s lovable granddad Eddie Dawson, so he was devastated to learn of Bobby’s sudden death last month aged 71.
What’s On TV caught up with Josh for a video interview, who told us about his feelings of pain, and also shared some wonderful memories of filming ITV's Benidorm with Bobby, affectionately known as ‘Knutty’.
“It was just devastating when we heard,” said Josh. “I was with Steve Edge who plays my Benidorm dad Billy on the Monday morning when we found out Bobby had passed. It was just so bizarre.
“Julie [Graham] rang us immediately and said she’d had a missed call and a message saying something bad had happened to Bobby, so we told Julie and she was absolutely devastated too. It’s all just c**p, honestly, all just c**p, and I’ll miss him a lot.
“We’d all arrived together on Benidorm as the Dawson family, and quite quickly those roles we’re filled in real life – I was the idiot 20-year-old. Steve and Julie Graham were the responsible parents and Knutty was the granddad with the heart who’d have these wonderful stories and make these slightly inept comments that grandparents often do.”
“Knutty loved to show us films. We had James Cagney nights and we watched Jaws. He’d also cook us meals and we’d have cheese and wine nights. We also took day trips away during filming, to Valencia and Alicante, so I spent lots of time with him and he was just such a wonderful man. It did feel like losing a family member. It was horrible. But it was just so lovely to have known him and been a part of his life.
“I’ve just seen the first episode of the new series and it’s so weird watching. It was only a few months ago that were doing the scenes together, and now he’s not here.”
* Josh and Bobby can be seen in the next series of Benidorm which is due to start on ITV in the new year
