EastEnders' Phil Mitchell: Hacking destroyed my relationship

Steve McFadden was also hacked by the News of the World. Credit: PA

EastEnders star Steve McFadden said phone hacked Mirror articles written while he was dating co-star Lucy Benjamin "destroyed" their relationship.

McFadden, who plays hardman Phil Mitchell in the BBC soap, said he got very close to proposing to the actress, who he dated from 2000 to 2003.

"But the biggest factor that stopped me was thinking that Lucy had a big mouth and was giving out information," he told a court.

Lucy played his on-screen girlfriend Lisa Fowler until 2003, with one of her biggest story lines being 'Who Shot Phil?'

Lucy Benjamin and Steve McFadden together in 2003. Credit: PA

McFadden said: "I now know that messages I left for Lucy must have been heard by MGN's journalists.

"Although I find this appalling, in some senses, I am relieved to finally know why and how so much information came out about me and Lucy.

"The sad thing is that you can't turn back the clock on what I thought and accused Lucy of at the time, which was that she was betraying me."

The actor claimed the hacks also destroyed Benjamin's career saying he felt the constant stories were responsible "for putting her out of work and making her unemployable. "And I think she was right," he said.