Off Screen

EastEnders scoops 3 Awards at the All About Soap Awards

EastEnders and Hollyoaks were the most popular shows in 2012 as they picked up 3 gongs each.

Jo Joyner picked up the gong for the ‘best actress’
Jake Wood and Jo Joyner picked up the gong for ‘best couple’
Finally, EastEnders third award went to Michael French for‘ Best Comeback’

All the Soap Stars were over the moon when they got their awards!

Written by ~EastEndersLovee

BBC deny that Kazia Pelka is joining but our source says otherwise

On Friday we we reported that Actress Kazia Pelka has been cast in the soap as Derek Branning’s Ex-Wife but we have heard from the BBC press that they have denied this rumor. The BBC Commented saying “There is absolutely no truth whatsoever in these rumours.”

HOWEVER, our source insists that this is the BBC’s standard response when a storyline is leaked. Further reports claim that Kazia’s character has been named as “Eva Fisher” and her husbands name will be “Malcolm Fisher”. The source also states that Eva will be a silent partner behind the Queen Vic and then eventually she will end up behind the bar with Sharon Watts.

The report claims; Sharon knows how dangerous Derek Branning is from her past, and she aims to help protect Eva. Eva has the support of Malcom, and as a unit they intend to bring Derek to justice. Malcolm’s job will be in relation to social services, and he will be involved with the George and Shirley storyline. This is a long running storyline, and Malcolm will show that he is no ordinary social worker. Apparently he has many sides, and can be VERY devious. He swore to Eva that he would help find her child, but there is more than meets the eye where he is concerned.

Peggy and Dot hit the town

Well this was a turn up for the books! Last night, Eastenders veterans June Brown, 85, (Dot) and Barbara Windsor, 74, (Peggy) were reunited for a night out in the West-end. The pair haven’t been together since Peggy Mitchell left Walford back in September 2010. The two legends enjoyed a night out in Leicester Square, central London, to see singer Rose-Marie in the theatre and then headed for the after show party at a nearby hotel.

Wearing bright clothes and away from Dot’s dowdy wardrobe, June grinned for the cameras, while Barbara wore her famous blonde beehive and carried flowers that we’re given to her by a young follower. With beaming smiles on their faces, they both looked like they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Young actors to leave Eastenders

A Newspaper has claimed that the teenage cast members on EastEnders will be axed by the incoming new producer following Bryan Kirkwood’s decision to step down. The BBC announced last week that Kirkwood was leaving EastEnders after just 2 years in charge. He joined the BBC One soap following a success stint on Hollyoaks where he turned around the fortunes of the Channel Four soap with a series of well received and award winning stories. However, he has come under a lot of criticism over the number of younger characters that he has taken on in Albert Square.

The Daily Star Sunday is reporting that some of the younger cast fear they’ll be axed in a “blood-bath” by the new producer. Although the BBC has yet to announce who will replace Kirkwood in the role the tabloid claims that cast members fear they’ll be a cull with younger, teen characters the target because of the criticism aimed at the soap recently.

Newspaper reports say that cast members such as Shona McGarty, Matt Lapinskas, Jacqueline Jossa and Tony Discipline are amongst those who are concerned about their jobs. When Kirkwood joined EastEnders he axed a lot of characters and its certainly not unusual for new producers to get rid of characters to make their presence known.

Gemma Mcluskie’s legs found in canal where torso was also found

The Police have revealed they may have found more body parts belonging to the EastEnders actress whose headless torso was found floating in a canal earlier in March. Her legs was spotted in the water today by police divers, two weeks after 29 yr old Gemma McCluskie’s mutilated body was recovered close to Hackney’s famous Broadway Market, in the East-end.

A Police spokesman said: ‘The Marine Support Unit recovered the legs from the canal on the Broadway Market stretch where Miss McCluskie’s body was found We are awaiting further tests to determine the identity of limbs, but we believe it belongs to Gemma McCluskie’.

Police divers are still continuing the grim task of searching the canal for more body parts after discovering her arm on Monday. The actress was last seen returning to her home in Hackney, which she shared with her brother Tony, who now stands accused of killing his sister.

Her friends had launched extensive searches across East London and former EastEnders co-stars Natalie Cassidy, Martine McCutcheon and Brooke Kinsella appealed on Twitter for help. Tony McCluskie, 35, was remanded in custody after he appeared at the Old Bailey by video-link from Brixton Prison last Tuesday.

Gemma, who played Kerry Skinner in the BBC soap in 2001, was reported missing to police two days after she disappeared. She appeared in more than 30 episodes of the show as the teenage temptress. The part was her only high-profile acting role and it is believed more recently she may have been acting as a carer for her elderly mother.

Shirley pays tribute to Heather

Linda Henry who plays Shirley, has paid tribute to Cheryl Fergison, whose final scenes as Heather Trott will be broadcast on Monday. Heather meets a horrible demise in Monday night’s episode when she has inadvertedly murdered by Ben Mitchell.

Linda said: “The public took to Heather immediately. It could have been a one-dimensional role, but Cheryl has brought so many different layers to Heather. I don’t think there is anyone who could have played Heather like Cheryl. We just immediately, and I’m not just saying this, clicked.”

Linda also confirmed that Fergison decided to stay on set for the scenes immediately following her death. “Cheryl decided to play the corpse, because she knew how much that meant to us and how much we would relate to seeing her there.”

Frogmen search for Gemma McClukie’s head and limbs

Former Eastenders star, Gemma McCluckie’s body is believed to have been found in in Regent’s Canal in Hackney, east London, by Police divers. McCluskie’s brother Tony is thought to have been arrested yesterday at his home in Bethnal Green, east London, where he lives with his mother and where his sister disappeared from recently. Tony’s mobile phone number was among those that appeared on a missing person’s poster he himself helped circulate around the local area when his sister disappeared. The limbless corpse was dragged from Regent’s Canal by the Metropolitan police, with sources indicating it had been identified as 29-year-old Gemma. Relatives and former co-stars were said to be ‘fearing the worst’ while awaiting official results of forensics. Police sources said the unclothed body’s arms, legs and head had been hacked off before it was found floating in the Canal.

The actress, who played Kerry Skinner for 30 episodes in 2001, had been missing since March 1, sparking a frantic search. Past and present members of the Eastenders cast including Martine McCutcheon, Brooke Kinsella and Natalie Cassidy had appealed for information about the actress via Twitter and Facebook.

A statement from Scotland Yard issued after the body was found said: ‘A body was found in Regents Canal near Broadway Market in East London at 2.40pm. Enquiries are underway to establish the identity of the deceased. A post-mortem will be scheduled to ascertain the cause of death. Pending that post-mortem we will be treating the death as unexplained.’

Gemma McCluskies body may have been pulled from a river

The Telegraph has reported that Gemma McCluskie, 29, who played Kerry Skinner in the television soap opera, has been missing for a week now. A limbless body was discovered shortly before 3pm on Tuesday afternoon after police were called to Regent’s Canal near Broadway Market, east London. The body was recovered by divers from the Metropolitan Police’s Marine Support Unit, who made further searches in the area. A murder investigation has been launched by the Homicide and Serious Crime Command. Apparently friends found out that she went into a kebab shop on Hackney Road, two minutes from where she lives, last Thursday at 8pm. Until then the last time she had been seen was in the afternoon on the same day by her brother Tony. The discovery came after police expressed “extreme concern” for Miss McCluskie’s welfare. Miss McCluskie, who is single, and appeared in thirty episodes of the BBC serial drama in 2001 as the niece of Ethel Skinner. Eastenders Spoilers have been appealing for help on Twitter.

Eastenders cast and crew abused

The Mirror has reported that a boy of 14 has been warned by police after waging a hate campaign against EastEnders’ cast and crew members. The Police were called in after abusive emails were sent directly to staff at an “alarming rate”, along with vile messages which began to flood internet forums by the dozen.

The Police issued a formal warning to the teenager after more than a dozen stars were believed to have been targeted in a lengthy campaign of abuse.

One man said: “It was the talk of the set for several months and a lot of people were frightened. This person was emailing specific details about EastEnders’ staff and there was also sickening abuse appearing online on lots of different forums. It got very serious and the show’s bosses in particular were getting a lot of grief over decisions being made. It was like this poster was on the set with some of the detail he knew. At first it looked like a group of angry, vicious viewers but as it got more sinister we looked into it and found it was just one sick young lad”

A letter was written to worried staff, by Eastenders company manager Carolyn Weinstein, who confirmed that the culplrit had been cautioned by police.

A Hertfordshire Police spokesman confirmed that a 14-year-old youth had last week been given a formal warning about the incident.

Craig Fairbrass mother found in a shed

Ex Eastenders star Craig Fairbrass’s mother was yesterday found hiding out in a shed. Maureen, who suffers from dementia, was cold and dehydrated but was in a reasonable condition, after she went missing whilst out shopping on Tuesday. The 72 year old’s condition has been getting worse as she has no clue who she is, where she is or even what her name is.

Maureen was taken into Bromley hospital, South London for tests, and Craig has to put his film shooting on hold, as he flew back from Singapore to see her. Craig was shooting a film called Hijacked with co-star Vinnie Jones.