EastEnders is celebrating its 40th anniversary in style this week with old and favourite faces returning to Walford to mark the milestone.
To celebrate the big birthday, the soap will be on BBC One everyday throughout the week – except Friday (February 21).
The week kicked off with Honey (Emma Barton) and Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) tying the knot during a ceremony on the Square, and fans were amazed to see Ross Kemp reprise his role as Grant Mitchell – marking his first return to Walford in nine years.
Grant returned to Walford after being called by fellow Easties icon Nigel Bates – Paul Bradley – regarding brother Phil Mitchell’s mental health after the soap stalwart battled depression and attempted to commit suicide.
Tonight’s episode (February 19) will be an hour-long special as it is the show’s official 40th anniversary, followed by a full live episode on Thursday – which will reveal who Denise (Diane Parish) chooses after a love triangle.
In a groundbreaking move, fans of the iconic soap will have the power to choose whether Denise ends up with Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) or Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) during the show, adding an exciting twist to the storyline.
But ahead of this week’s episode, some fans are talking about one thing after being reminded of the hilarious slip-up from Jo Joyner, who played Tanya Cross, during the last live episode, to celebrate the 30th anniversary.
Jo reprised her role as Tanya Branning in the live special back in 2015, and whilst on air the actress referred to Ian Beale, played by Adam Woodyatt, by his real name.
Jo’s character was suppose to say “How’s Ian?” but instead, said “How’s Adam?”
This resulted in Scots actress Laurie Brett, who played Jane Beale, trying to hold in her laughter as the cameras kept rolling.
Speaking to Radio Times about the slip up, Jo revealed she was mortified by her on air mistake.
She said: “I’ve got a good sense of humour. But I couldn’t laugh about it until I’d gone out there the next night. I knew that people were watching to see if I messed up again.
“And to do that next episode live in front of 10 million viewers was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.”
But she needn’t be mortified, as the gaff ended up being a standout fan favourite moment in the show’s history. And when EastEnders bosses announced the live episode back in November, fans were all saying the same thing on X, formerly Twitter. One said: “How’s Adam?” While one added: “Hope someone asks how Adam is.” One said: “Very exciting, although I have a feeling you’ll regret it.”