INFINISHED BUSINESS EastEnders star teases return to Albert Square to ‘reunite’ iconic family
A FORMER EastEnders actress has teased “never say never” to an iconic soap comeback.
The family matriarch, who first stepped foot in on Albert Square in 2006, opened up on a huge return – despite pouring cold water on the idea two years ago.
Jo Joyner, 48 – who plays Tanya Branning in the BBC soap – last appeared briefly over Christmas for her daughter Abi’s death in 2018.
The mum of two was at the heart of a number of explosive plotlines during her core EastEnders stint between 2006 and 2009, including a Christmas fallout where Tanya learned her husband Max had been having an affair with Stacey Slater.
Now, with Zoe Slater embarking on her second stint in the show and her secret relationship with Max Branning – Jo’s on screen husband – revealed, she has hinted she’s changed her mind.
On Love Island star Amy Hart’s Mum’s Club podcast, Amy quizzed: “As a superfan, I have to ask, are you going to complete my happy families card game for the Brannings?
“You’re the last one!”
Referring to actor Jake Wood, who plays Max, Jo replied: “You know what really made me laugh the other day because he sent me a picture from set and I saw how tall my son is, Oscar.
“I said ‘do they know he’s the Hobbit?'”
She added: “Erm no, not this year.
“Never say never but I have got a lot on this year, so no.”
OPENING UP
Jo recently revealed the real reason she quit the BBC One series – and it’s not what you might expect.
She told the Sunday Mirror: “If I come out of a drama I always try to look for a comedy,” she told the Sunday Mirror.
”You can’t just do it constantly for years in misery, otherwise you end up with a Walford frown. It gets to you.”
At the time Jo, who has been on and off the BBC soap since 1999, said bosses had left the door open for a comeback.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun’s TV Mag in 2023, she again doubled down on why she quit the BBC soap.
“As soon as you got bored of one thing, you got a different thing, a new adventure,” she said.
Jo then looked back on her time at EastEnders, she recalled her storyline when on-screen hubby Max had been having an affair with Stacey.
“That Christmas special, one of the things I love about that as well was that it was a real testament to great writing and investment in stories and characters because a lot of Christmas specials for things, they throw a lot of money at it, lots of stunts and things…
“We had a rain machine and apart from that we just had the actors on one set so that was quite unusual.
“It shows that without good writing, it’s all nothing.”
