Kim will get an early present this festive season when she goes into labour in the Christmas Eve episode of EastEnders. Now, you’d think this would be a happy occasion, but when you’re locked in the storeroom at the Minute Mart when your waters break, then suddenly it seems a lot more fraught. Couple this with the fact that Phil Mitchell is the only person available to be your midwife and you can see why Kim is fretting that this isn’t exactly running to her birth plan. Here’s Tameka Empson with the lowdown on Kim’s big baby drama:
So how is Kim feeling about her impending birth?
She’s nervous – she knows what she’s in for, but I think she just wants everything to go as smoothly as possible. With her competitiveness with the choir she wants to be the star of the concert and the star in a lovely labour ward. She knows it’s going to be tough,h but she wants it to be as easy as it can be.
What can you tell us about the lead up to Kim giving birth?
Kim’s keeping herself busy – she’d go stir crazy if she was just sitting down waiting for the contractions to begin. She’s busying herself with the whole festive season and making sure everything at home is literally picture perfect. Obviously it’s not going to be perfect because Vincent’s not there but she’s just concentrating on her family. Having a newborn baby on the way, I think Kim thinks she’s like a glamorous Virgin Mary! She’s just trying to keep it all together, especially for Pearl. She wants to have the greatest Christmas ever.
Is Kim missing Vincent, especially at Christmas?
There’ll be a point when they’re tucking into their dinner, laughing, having fun and Vincent will cross her mind. It’s been such a long time now that when she thinks of him, it could be with a bit of anger because he literally left her in the lurch. She can’t keep pining after him and wondering where he is – she needs to focus. In her mind, Vincent knows where Kim is and if he wanted to come home, he would. A little bit of her is thinking there might be a knock on the door, and he’ll be there with perfume, flowers and chocolates. But I don’t know what he would say to Kim. Kim would definitely give it to him.
Kim has a very unlikely birthing partner in Phil, how does Kim feel about that?
Who would have known? There’s no way that Kim would have shortlisted Phil Mitchell of all people to be her birthing partner. But when you’re in that position you just take who’s around and he just happened to be there. I don’t think it will ever be the same between them again! It’s already slightly awkward that he has a child with Kim’s sister, Denise and now all of this! It’s going to be interesting to say the very least, but who knows? Maybe a lovely friendship will flourish from this?
And how was it filming those scenes with Steve?
Oh it was hilarious and fun. It’s one of those instances where you don’t work with someone that often. but when you do you really enjoy it. I’ve had a few scenes with Steve and they’ve been quite intense, especially when he was going head to head with Vincent, but this time around it was just so much fun. We wanted to make the scene right, we didn’t want it to become pantomime-like. Obviously our characters are very different and we don’t always mix together in the show, but I think we did it justice and we both really enjoyed it.
Would you like Kim and Phil to strike up a friendship?
It would be nice now that they’ve shared this moment. Obviously it would be a different friendship to him and Denise, but I think Phil does like Kim. Also, because Phil was one of the last people to see Vincent, he might feel guilty for his part in it, or not maybe. I don’t think that anybody could hate Kim, so I think it would be nice to see how that develops.
How would Kim react if she knew that Phil might have had something to do with Vincent’s sudden exit?
She would go for his guts – she would really rip him to shreds. I think in some ways Phil would allow her to, because he can see that she’s not a bad person. It was a surprise to everyone that she fell pregnant because before then they were trying and it didn’t happen. I think when a child is involved it changes everything, so if she found out she would really go for him.
Do you think Kim will manage being a mum second time around?
It will be the making of her – she’s got this drive to prove that she can do this. She loves the fact that she had a husband and a business – to a certain extent she was a lady of leisure. More so now we’re going to see a lot more of Kim’s determination and drive, but it won’t be easy. She’ll definitely be tested and it will be interesting to see how she copes – one child is fair enough, but two?
Kim ends up missing her solo with the choir…
Oh I know, and she’s not happy about that, if Kim had her way she’d want to get around that tree again, get people there and recreate the moment – she’d want encore after encore.
What song would Kim pick to sing if she had her solo moment?
It would be a medley, it would be a mash up that she’s made and the audience wouldn’t know whether to clap, sing or dance. It would be a good medley, a bespoke medley by the one and only Kimberly Fox-Hubbard!
What would you buy Kim as a Christmas present?
I’d say a good mattress – she’s going to need a lie down and sleep after everything that happens. And spa treatments, a month’s worth…she’s going to need them.
And what’s Christmas going to be like for you?
Well, it’s going to be slightly manic because I’m doing pantomime at Hackney Empire. I’m going to try my best. I’ve already bought decorations and I’m going to get my daughter to help me put them altogether, but let’s see how that goes. This year, I’m going to let the rest of the family do it and I’m just going to sit down and have a little drink and a mince pie.
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