Shaun Williamson, who played Barry in BBC soap EastEnders, has revealed how he was reunited with his son, Gary, after a wild coincidence.
Williamson, who also had a recurring role in Ricky Gerais's meta-com Extras, tells the story in his autobiography, A Matter of Facts, which is published on October 1.
The Irish Mirror reports that the two were reunited when Gary became a fan of Williamson's acting work without knowing he was his father – and the story also involves his mother being a member of a circus.
In the book, the actor says he received a letter in 2013 claiming that Gary was his son, and was conceived his child during Williamson’s "circus days" when he met Gary's mother in 1987 when she was working as a juggler, while he was and working as a barman.
In the new book, Gary says: "My dad was in fact Shaun Williamson, an actor that I had admired for years, not from EastEnders but from the sitcom Extras.
"Me and my mates had even planned to go and see him when he was in a show at the Belfast Opera House some years before, so that we could meet him afterwards. How weird would that have been?"
Williamson underwent a paternity test which proved Gary was his biological son. The pair then met for the first time at a hotel in Belfast, and Shaun says they "hit it off straight away".
The actor added that Gary had said to him: "He said he never thought in a million years that Barry from EastEnders could be his dad."
Williamson also has two other children from his marriage to Melanie Sacre.
