{"id":674688,"date":"2026-11-04T12:16:15","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T12:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/674688\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T12:16:15","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T12:16:15","slug":"barry-from-eastenders-lands-starring-role-in-christmas-ad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/674688\/","title":{"rendered":"Barry from EastEnders lands starring role in Christmas ad"},"content":{"rendered":"

A former EastEnders star is ringing in the festive season in a new advert.<\/p>\n

Shaun Williamson is best known for playing Barry Evans in the long-running BBC serial drama from 1994 to 2004. However, he is now gracing our screens in a much different way.<\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s biggest companies have begun to release their adverts for the Christmas period, and Lidl are next in line.<\/p>\n

Williamson is front and centre in the advert, titled ‘Lidl Christmas Everybody’, which is a reworking of Slade\u2019s iconic festive tune ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’. <\/p>\n

The actor, aptly dressed in a Lidl Christmas jumper, delivers shopping bags to surprised neighbours laden with Christmas-themed goodies from Lidl.<\/p>\n

He was not alone, as former football commentator Chris Kamara, Capital FM presenter Kemi Rodgers and comedian Abi Clarke also starred in the ad.<\/p>\n

As expected, Lidl\u2019s new seasonal range was on full display, including turkeys, Brussels sprouts, mince pies and chocolate gonks.<\/p>\n

Commenting on his appearance in the supermarket Christmas advert, Williamson was delighted to help kick off the festive season.<\/p>\n

\u201cChristmas is all about bringing people together, having fun and spreading a little festive cheer, so I jumped at the chance to help Lidl kick off the festive season in style!”<\/p>\n

\"shaun<\/p>\n

lidl<\/p>\n

Related: EastEnders star Bobby Brazier lands new Christmas role alongside Mariah Carey<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cPutting a fresh spin on such an iconic Christmas classic was brilliant fun, and I hope it gets everyone smiling, singing along and feeling that little bit of Christmas magic!\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

Joanna Gomer, Lidl GB\u2019s Marketing Director, was thrilled to bring the supermarket\u2019s 2026 Christmas advert to television screens around the UK.<\/p>\n

\"shaun<\/p>\n

lidl<\/p>\n

Related: EastEnders star films “emotional” final scenes as exit is confirmed<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no better way to kick off the festive season than with a little music, a lot of fun and a Lidl twist on a Christmas classic,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis marks the start of our Christmas celebrations at Lidl, with plenty of exciting surprises and festive favourites still to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to bringing a little extra sparkle to the season and helping customers get ready for the most wonderful time of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visit our Streaming Guide<\/a> now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.<\/p>\n

The new edition of Legends, a 100-page celebration of the world of K-pop, is here. Buy K-Pop in newsagents or online<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A former EastEnders star is ringing in the festive season in a new advert. Shaun Williamson is best…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":674689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[131124,1105,285792,1107,93,61,60,184510,1135,285791,223989,131322],"class_list":["post-674688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-23a66cbb-43c6-401a-9c6f-6a091d6565db","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-eastenders-barry-kicks-off-festive-period-in-christmas-ad","tag-sponsored-false","tag-subsection-eastenders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/674689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}