EastEnders star Jo Joyner has told the Daily Star that when she leaves the set of the show, she’s just relieved her life is nothing like her character’s Tanya Branning.

She made the confession after being asked if playing such a serious storyline – in which Tanya of course has cancer – affects her after the cameras are switched off.

Jo – who’s also starred in Fat Friends, Clocking Off, Doctor Who and Spooks – said, “Rather than it making me depressed after filming those difficult scenes, I tend to go home relieved that it’s not my life.

“I go home and laugh even more hysterically than I would normally because of what’s happening to Tanya.

“Saying that, my husband doesn’t agree. He thinks I carry it all more than I think I do.

“He says I come back miserable, but once I’ve put the kids in the bath and had a laugh, then I feel good again…”

On the show, Tanya is of course soon going to have to deal with the fact that her husband, Max Branning (Jake Wood) is yet again tempted to stray when Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) begins flirting with him.

However, there’s a twist because Max (Jake Wood) will mistakenly think that Tanya is more than friends with his brother Jack (Scott Maslen) when he finds out the pair have had a cosy lunch together.

The whole situation will prompt Tanya and Max to sit down and have a heart to heart about their situation, and how they’re going to deal with the issue that Tanya doesn’t want to have sex while she’s having treatment for cervical cancer.

We’ll see that drama play out next week.