Walford resident Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) is of course gearing up for his wedding to Sharon Rickman (Letitia Dean) so the last thing he needs is any reminders of his former marriage to Ronnie…

However, he’s about to get a stark one when Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) informs him that her sister Ronnie – who was of course played by Samantha Womack – is being released from prison.

She was of course sent down for the abduction of Kat Moon’s baby boy Tommy, who she ‘swapped’ with her own dead infant son, James… Read more & comment »

Fans of EastEnders have reacted angrily to the news that yet another cast member is leaving – Steve John Shepherd who plays Michael Moon has recently quit the show – and many have branded the soap “unrecognizable” as a whole host of cast members have departed in recent months.

And it seems that annoyance is being reflected in the soap’s viewing figures, which fell to around 6.36 million during last Thursday’s episode. To put that into context, Coronation Street was viewed by 9.5million of us last Monday night.

The Daily Mirror reports that fans have taken to internet forums to express their anger over the ever-changing faces on the show, with one viewer writing, “It will take a genius to save the train-wreck that is EastEnders.” Read more & comment »

Fans of EastEnders will know that Sharon Rickman is due to wed her fiancé Jack Branning next month, however, it’s been reported today that recidivist bride Sharon is set to call the wedding off at the eleventh hour after learning that Jack has been contacting his former wife, jailbird Ronnie.

And according to the Daily Mirror, Sharon’s decision not to marry Jack (Scott Maslen) could pave the way for a romance with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) which has of course been brewing ever since Sharon (Letitia Dean) arrived back in Walford last year.

But of the forthcoming wedding day drama, a show insider said, “Sharon hoped her wedding day would be one of the happiest days of her life… Read more & comment »

EastEnders favourite, Scott Maslen, has quit his role as Jack Branning on the award-winning BBC soap, it has been confirmed.

Scott, who has also appeared on the hugely popular BBC dancing talent show Strictly Come Dancing, has played the most loved Branning brother for 6 years, and in that time has been at the centre of some of shows most controversial and hard-hitting storylines it’s history, most notably the highly-publicised baby-swap drama in early 2011 with his on-screen wife, Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack).

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In next week’s episodes of EastEnders, former copper Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) could find himself facing a long time behind bars after he attacks love rival Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) after a row over Sharon Rickman turns violent!

The drama begins on Monday, February 25th when Jack tells Sharon (Letitia Dean) that she could earn far more money running a club in the West End than she’s currently earning running R&R for Phil…

So, convinced that he’s right, Sharon approaches Phil and asks for a pay rise, however, he’s quick to dismiss her and tells her if she doesn’t want the job, she should just quit. Read more & comment »

As we reported earlier this week, in the New Year, Phil Mitchell is set to propose to Sharon Rickman, and unlike the last time he placed an engagement ring on her finger, this time his offer of marriage is a real one!

However, Phil (Steve McFadden) isn’t the only Walford male hearing the sound of wedding bells in his head as it turns out that Sharon’s boyfriend Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) is also going to propose to her.

And as I mentioned in the title of this post, I wonder if Sharon (Letitia Dean) holds some kind of a record for having the most proposals of marriage ever, because of course she nearly married fiancé John Hewland – who she ditched at the altar before returning to the Square earlier this year – and prior to that, she was married to Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman).

Before Dennis, Sharon was married to Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) and before that even – in 1987 – Sharon was engaged to curate Duncan Boyd, but she later called off the wedding. And in 2002, Sharon was engaged to Tom Banks, but he died while rescuing Little Mo Slater from a house that her violent ex-husband had set alight… Read more & comment »

In episodes of EastEnders which will air on October 11th and 12th, we’ll see that Sharon Rickman decides it’s finally time to tell her son Dennis the truth about how his dad died.

As fans of the show will know, Sharon (Letitia Dean) has been telling little Dennis that his dad died a hero’s death, fighting for his country overseas and only after he’d saved a number of other lives.

But of course, the sordid truth is that Dennis Snr – who was played by Nigel Harman – was stabbed to death in the street outside the Queen Vic after gangster Johnny Allen hired a hit man to kill him.

However, the fairytale lie that Sharon has been telling Dennis is shattered when Derek Branning (Jamie Foreman) deliberately mentions in front of Sharon’s son that Dennis Snr., was stabbed to death … Read more & comment »

EastEnders bosses are currently playing out a classic whodunit storyline in the form of keeping viewers in suspenders to discover the identity of Kat Moon’s lover…

The five suspects are of course Derek, Max and Jack Branning, Michael Moon (Steve John Shepherd) and pub chef, Ray Dixon, and all week, visitors to the show’s official website have been voting in a poll to see who they think the mystery man is.

And topping the charts at 33.7% of votes is Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) with Ray Dixon (Chucky Venn) being in second place with 24.9% of the vote.

Only 14.5% of voters thought it will turn out to be Derek (Jamie Foreman) while Michael being the secret diddler is considered most likely by 14.6%. Max (Jake Wood) crashed and burned with only 12.4% of voters choosing him as Kat’s Mr Lover Lover… Read more & comment »

Last night saw the 13^th annual British Soap Awards, and all the stars braved the wind and rain to take their seats for the spectacular event, held at the ITV studios in London, where UnrealityTV were on the red carpet to speak to them all before the ceremony started.

The EastEnders cast were surprisingly sparse when it came to the red carpet event, especially when compared to the huge Emmerdale crew that showed up en masse, but we managed to catch up with some of the Walford residents to clear up some old rumours and get some new gossip!

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Rita Simons, who of course plays Roxy Mitchell in EastEnders, has been telling the Daily Mirror that she “hates” having to play out kissing scenes with her co-star Scott Maslen as he’s “like a brother” to her.

Scott plays Jack Branning, with whom Roxy recently shared a one night stand, but Roxy is set to lock lips with Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) in forthcoming episodes, so perhaps Jack and Roxy’s on-off relationship will take a back seat!

But of kissing Scott, Rita explained, “Scott’s like my big brother and I absolutely freak out every time I have to kiss him.

“The director says ‘action!’ and we kiss and then when he says ‘cut!’ we both hit and punch each other and he pushes me off him and I push him off me… Read more & comment »

Derek Branning is of course establishing himself as an old fashioned East End gangster who’s making Walford his patch…

However, in forthcoming episodes, when Derek (Jamie Foreman) hires a hitman to kill Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons), his brother Jack (Scott Maslen) is horrified, and swears revenge on Derek if anything happens to Roxy.

But when she subsequently goes missing, Jack fears that Derek has carried out the hit, and had her murdered.

Derek takes the drastic action because Roxy won custody of little Amy last week, and as fans will know, Derek vowed then that “nobody treats my brother like that and gets away with it…” Read more & comment »

Next week sees Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) going head to head in court with her ex, Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) to win back custody of her daughter Amy…

And it seems she’s prepared to fight as dirty as is necessary to ensure that Jack’s shown to be a less then reliable father, despite the fact that it was her own irresponsibility over little Amy that cost her custody of the little girl in the first place.

However, just before they’re due to fight it out in court, they end up sharing a one night stand! Wonder if that’ll result in another Walford baby?

But, the gloves are off when the court hearing begins, and the tension ramps up a good few notches after Michael Moon (Steve John Shepherd) finds out that Jack has applied for a passport for Amy and has forged Roxy’s signature to get it! Read more & comment »

Our first look at EastEnders news today is that Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) becomes convinced that Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) is his mystery stalker when he gets a sinister tape in the post…

As we saw in last night’s episode, Shirley (Linda Henry) confronted Rainie (Tanya Franks) believing her to be the stalker, but Rainie denied having anything to do with Phil’s torment…

However, when Phil receives a note that reads, “I know”, and then a text message that says, “I know you killed Kevin“, it begins to look like the stalker isn’t after revenge for the death of the man in the car lot all those years ago.

It seems they just want to make Phil suffer for his previous wrongdoings. And if that’s the case, they have a lot of them to choose from!

But as Phil knows that Jack has a copy of a tape that captured him admitting to selling Kevin Wicks (Phil Daniels) a cut-and-shut car – in which Kevin subsequently died – he immediately assumes Jack’s behind the latest notes and messages. Read more & comment »

Scott Maslen has admitted that he doesn’t want Samantha Womack to leave Eastenders and says that when she goes, he will miss her “dreadfully.”

Scott and Sam act opposite each other on the BBC soap and are best known as married couple Jack and Ronnie Branning. However he has admitted that it won’t be the same on set when the 38-year-old actress leaves later this year to appear in new musical ‘South Pacific’.

However, as much as he will miss her, Scott has confessed that the time is right for Samantha – who has two children, 10-year-old Ben and Lily, six, with her husband Mark Womack – to take a break, especially after the attention their controversial baby swap storyline attracted.
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EastEnders’ Jack Branning is a man on the edge as the full extent of Ronnie’s actions hit home but actor Scott Maslen couldn’t be happier with the most challenging storyline of his career.

Speaking about the controversial storyline, which prompted thousands of viewers to write in and complain to the BBC, Scott told The Sun’s Buzz magazine:

“Of course I was shocked when I read the script…and so was my wife. We have a kid [ten-year-old Zak]. But there are people who have actually done this horrible thing of swapping a baby. EastEnders had done its research. I know the argument was that the cot-death was enough on its own. But this show always likes to take a stance in telling stories that other people wouldn’t necessarily take the risk on. And when you look at the viewing figures when the baby swap was revealed [10.1million, where seven or eight million is the norm], the gap between us and our rival soaps was immense.” Read more & comment »