EastEnders legend Adam Woodyatt said a co-star was “really shaken up” after getting something wrong in a live episode of the soap, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary
EastEnders legend Adam Woodyatt has admitted a co-star was “really shaken up” over a mistake in a live EastEnders episode.
The BBC One soap is celebrating 40 years on TV with a week of action-packed episodes, which saw Martin Fowler tragically meet his end in the Queen Vic fire during the live episode on Thursday night (February 20). It came after killer Reiss met his own end in the inferno and Walford icon Angie Watts made an explosive return after 37 years.
However, live episodes clearly don’t always go to plan and Ian Beale star Adam, 56, admitted that his co-star Jo Joyner was haunted by her name blunder in a previous live episode. He opened up about the experience in EastEnders at 40: Behind the Scenes, one of the ways the soap is celebrating four decades on screens.
The first live episode aired in 2010 for the 25th anniversary. The soap’s 30th anniversary week in 2015 included “live elements” in three episodes before a fully live instalment at the end of it.
There were several mistakes and one of the most iconic saw Tanya Branning star Jo accidentally refer to Ian by the name of the actor playing him. Her character was caught asking Jane Beale (Laurie Brett): “How’s Adam?”
Reflecting on the blunder, Adam said in the newly-released special: “We all felt for Jo. You’ve gotta think how she felt – that when ever anybody mentions the live now that’s what gets mentioned. She can’t escape from it.
“I remember she came into … cause we were all in different studios … and Jo’s come in and she’s … shaken up. Really, really shaken up. And we’re all sort of looking at her and going ‘what’s the matter? what’s the matter?’ And she just went ‘you’ll find out’.”
Adam – who has been part of the cast since the first episode in 1985 – said anyone “could get it wrong” when it comes to a live episode. He said: “Any one of us could get it wrong and it’s the pressure of it. The crew could get something wrong. We could get something wrong.”
Jo herself admits she saw the funny side of the name error, but not immediately. She told Radio Times: “I’ve got a good sense of humour. But I couldn’t laugh about it until I’d gone out there the next night [for more live scenes]. I knew that people were watching to see if I messed up again.”
The star also told Gaby Roslin on her BBC London Radio show that she was emotional after the mistake. She said: “There is no explanation as to how or why it happened, we couldn’t have known it better, we went over and over it, and I never got it wrong in rehearsals.” She said it was “like an out of body experience” and that she was “hyperventilating” shortly before taking on her next live scene.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
