EastEnders fans may be in for a treat this festive season, as more details of the big Christmas plot line, in which a HUGE Branning family secret will be revealed, has now been rumoured to include the departure of Derek Branning!

Fans of the show will know how Albert Square favourites, Tanya (Jo Joyner) and Max Branning (Jake Wood) are planning to tie the knot for a second time this Christmas, where a huge family secret will be uncovered and ruin yet another Branning Christmas.
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EastEnders star Jacqueline Jossa has revealed that if her character Lauren’s dad Max turns out to be Kat Moon’s mystery lover, Lauren is likely to have a meltdown and “kick off!”

As fans of the show will of course know, the mystery over just who is Kat’s lover has been rumbling on for months now, and though initially five Walford men were in the frame, just three remain…

And those three are Branning brothers Derek (Jamie Foreman) Jack (Scott Maslen) and of course, Max (Jake Wood).

Ray Dixon (Chucky Venn) and Michael Moon (Steve John Shepherd) have been ruled out in the last few weeks.

But of the prospect that Max is seeing Kat (Jessie Wallace) Jacqueline told the Daily Star, “If Max is Kat’s secret boyfriend then Lauren will be fuming… Read more & comment »

As fans of EastEnders may know, in forthcoming episodes, cousins Joey and Lauren Branning are set to fall for each other in a storyline that insiders say will be “gripping” viewing for fans this autumn.

And this week, while speaking to Inside Soap magazine, David Witts who plays Joey has revealed that his character falls head over heels for Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa) but of course, given they’re related, their love is a very big taboo.

He said, “Joey’s very much under the impression that girls are lucky to be with him. He doesn’t really give them much respect.

“But with Lauren, there are real feelings.

“For the first time in his life, he falls in love with someone – but it’s a girl who’s forbidden. That’s karma for you!” Read more & comment »

As fans of EastEnders will know, Lauren Branning likes a drink or two, or five, or ten, but according to Jacqueline Jossa who plays boozy Lauren, acting out the drunken scenes has proven to be a useful reminder to herself to not to get drunk in real life.

However, while speaking to the Mirror from the red carpet of this week’s Inside Soap Awards, Jacqueline further revealed that though she does love playing the role of Lauren, her work commitments mean that she and her co-star boyfriend Tony Discipline – who of course plays Tyler Moon – hardly ever get to see each other!

Of that, Jacqueline said, “People think it’s weird but we really don’t see each other…

“The only time we do is when we walk past each other on set and I’m like ‘alright’.

“I think it helps, it means were not on top of each other.”

And of how they got together in the first place, Jacqueline said, “We chased each other really. We were friends for ages and then it just sort of happened.” Read more & comment »

As we reported recently, EastEnders fans will be left wondering if Lauren and Joey Branning – who are about to embark on a love affair storyline – survive after they steal Derek Branning’s car and crash it when their drunken joyride goes horrifically wrong…

However, in newly released images from the BBC, it seems that Derek (Jamie Foreman) might also face a life and death fight when, just after he drags son Joey (David Witts) and niece Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa) from the wreckage of the car, there’s a massive explosion and an equally huge fireball.

The show’s cast and crew filmed the dramatic scenes last week on location in Keynsham, Somerset, and at a cost of around £1million, the crash is one of the most expensive stunts ever filmed by the long-running BBC soap.

It’s expected that we’ll see the drama in November, and of course, the show’s bosses are keeping the news of who survives and who doesn’t a secret… Read more & comment »

As fans of EastEnders may know, when producer Lorraine Newman took over as the show’s executive earlier this year, she vowed to “shake up” the show..

And it was speculate that she planned to axe a number of the show’s younger cast members, fearing that older viewers weren’t interested in their storylines.

Matt Lapinskas – who played Anthony Moon – has of course now left the show, and a report in What’s On TV today hints that two more characters may be axed later this year.

It seems that the characters of Lauren and Joey Branning – who’re played by Jacqueline Jossa and David Witts – are set to be in a car crash later this year, which will leave viewers guessing as to whether they survive.

In scenes that’re being billed as one of the soap’s most expensive stunts ever, having cost around £1million to stage, we’ll see Lauren and Joey stealing Derek Branning’s (Jamie Foreman) Jag and going for a joyride in it… Read more & comment »

Thanks to his brother Anthony (Matt Lapinskas) losing the Moon family business to shady Derek Branning during a game of poker, EastEnder Tyler Moon is of course now jobless…

So, when Derek (Jamie Foreman) offers to let him run a market stall for him, Tyler (Tony Discipline) has little choice but to accept, given that job offers aren’t exactly flooding in.

However, when Derek’s son Joey (David Witts) makes fun of Tyler for being at Derek’s beck and call, Tyler loses his temper and lashes out, landing a punch right on Joey’s nose! And of course, twisted Derek loves every minute of it.

Of the plotline, an EastEnders insider told the Star, “Derek offers Tyler a stall in a bid to wind Joey up… Read more & comment »

As fans of Waterloo Road will know, Laurie Brett has joined the cast of the school soap in the role of English teacher Christine Mulgrew, who likes a drink or two.

And yes, I do know it…

However, Laurie, who of course formerly played the role of the long suffering Jane Beale in EastEnders, has revealed that she didn’t need to research Christine’s boozing – she is a functioning alcoholic – as she’d already learned from the best; her ‘Enders co-star Steve McFadden.

He of course plays the sometimes reformed pro-drinker Phil Mitchell, and during Phil’s drinking days, Steve had to play a lot of drunk scenes, and it seems Laurie was taking notes… Read more & comment »

EastEnders actress Shona McGarty has been given the all clear to return to the hit BBC soap, after a four month suspension.

McGarty, who plays troubled Whitney Dean in the soap, was suspended four weeks ago by new producer, Lorraine Newman, after repeatedly being late on set.
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We love it here at Unreality TV when art mirror’s life in the soap world, and nothing does it better than when two soap actors fall in love after the camera turns off.

In EastEnders you have the young relationships of co-stars Matt Lapinskas (Anthony Moon) and Shona McGarty (Whitney Dean) and the more recent romance between Tony Discipline (Tyler Moon) and Jacqueline Jossa (Lauren Branning).  In Emmerdale there is the bizarre real life marriage between Jeff Hordley (Cain Dingle) and Zoe Henry (Rhona the vet) and the engagement between Charley Webb (Debbie Dingle) and Matthew Wolfenden (David Metcalfe).

In Coronation Street the path of true love doesn’t run quite so smooth, with all off-screen romances resulting in one half leaving the show, like Samia Ghadie (Maria Connor) and Will Thorp (Chris the wife-beater) and Ryan Thomas (Jason Grimshaw) and Tina O’Brien (Sarah Louise Grimshaw), who spilt up not long after O’Brien’s departure.
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EastEnders star Jacqueline Jossa has revealed that backstage on the show, everybody’s speculating about the identity of Kat Moon’s lover, and all the cast – including Jessie Wallace who of course plays Kat – are gagging to know who the mystery man is!

There are of course five suspects; Max, Jack and Derek Branning, as well as Ray Dixon and Michael Moon, however, Jacqueline’s hoping that Kat’s lover might be somebody right out of left field!

She said, “I started a rumour around the set that it would be a celebrity guest appearance.

“I said it would be Peter Andre and some of the new cast believed it as well!” Read more & comment »

The Daily Mail reports today that the father of EastEnders actress Jacqueline Jossa – who of course plays troubled teen Lauren Branning – has been sentenced to a period of four years in prison for the theft of £500,000 of taxpayers’ money.

A distraught Jacqueline was in court yesterday to hear her father John plead guilty to three offences of dishonesty or tampering with expenses during the time he was head of finance at Enfield Council.

58 year old John reportedly stole a total of £491,088.35 between 2006 and 2010, £42,000 of which was in “false wages” to his wife, who didn’t in fact work at the council.

The paper adds, “However, he lost a significant amount of the money in scams and only £25,000 was recovered when Enfield Council launched a court action against him.”

The Old Bailey heard presiding Judge Nicholas Cooke telling John, “I have to sentence you for three offences of dishonesty by a fairly sophisticated fraud… Read more & comment »

EastEnders star Jacqueline Jossa has revealed her surprise at being nominated in the category of Sexiest Female at the British Soap Awards, as she says that for most of the time she’s on-screen as Lauren Branning, she’s throwing up!

Other runners and riders in the category include Jacqueline’s co-star Preeya Kalidas – who of course played Amira Masood – Coronation Street’s Michelle Keegan and Hollyoaks’ Jorgie Porter.

But of being nominated, a modest Jacqueline told TV Biz, “The other girls are all very, very sexy! How can I be up against Michelle Keegan?

“I don’t know how I am nominated, all I do is throw up!

“Maybe it’s because Lauren is just your normal girl, a plain Jane, but maybe people see a sexy side to her.

“I think some girls relate to her, although maybe not all of them have run over their dad… Read more & comment »

As fans of EastEnders will know, Lauren Branning is battling her propensity to binge drink, though right now, she’s not putting up much of a fight against it…

But that said, she has of course endured a number of upheavals in her young life, including her mum and dad splitting up and reuniting, and her mum Tanya’s (Jo Joyner) battle with cancer.

And when she was younger, Lauren tried to kill her dad Max (Jake Wood) by running him over, and a few years ago, she dropped the bombshell of Max’s affair with Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) on her family on Christmas Day… Read more & comment »

And Ben Mitchell weeps in Shirley Carter’s arms at Heather’s funeral

It’s a busy week ahead in Walford, with Heather Trott’s funeral and the police investigation about to move up a gear when they arrest someone at the wake…

But before that, Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa), still getting drunk by way of celebrating her 18th finds herself in a horribly dangerous situation which, luckily, her friend Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) gets her out of just in time.

It all begins with Lauren and the gang celebrating at R&R, which is were a group of men start chatting Lauren up and persuade her to go with them to a “party”.

So, with Lauren in their car, they begin to drive away, but brave Lucy throws herself in front of the car, forcing them to stop. She then drags Lauren out, but Lauren isn’t thankful to her friend. In fact, she’s livid!

I’m sure she’ll think differently when she sobers up, but another Walford resident is the focus of attention later in the week when, at Heather’s funeral, Ben Mitchell (Joshua Pascoe) looks like he might confess to having killed her… Read more & comment »