EastEnders actress, Jo Joyner, has revealed that a massive Branning family secret will come out at Christmas; we can’t believe there are any left!

And this may well set the scene for Joyner, who plays salon owner Tanya Branning in the BBC One soap, to bow out from her role as she takes a break from the show next year.

Speaking to the Daily Star Sunday, Joiner teased: “I love playing Tanya and can’t wait to find out what’s coming up. All I know is there’s a big secret that’s going to come out at Christmas and it will affect the entire Branning family. It’s huge and the fans will be shocked,”

Speaking of her break: “I only took six months when I first had the kids and was very envious of everyone taking a year. But this way I’m still getting my six months – just before they start nursery – which is really nice.

“We’re hoping to move back to the countryside as I’m a real country girl at and I want to spend as much time with the kids as I can. It’s a little while off yet and I have no idea how they’re going to write me out but I will be back.”

This isn’t the first time that Joiner, who joined the show in 2006 as the head of the Branning family, has teased how her family will be taking the centre stage on EastEnders again.  Fans of the show will remember how her on-screen husband, Max’s (Jake Wood) affair with daughter-in-law, Stacey (Lacey Turner) was revealed during the 2007 Christmas day special.

EastEnders can be seen Monday, Thursday and Friday evenings on BBC1/BBC1 HD.