Alex Jones left red-faced following The One Show blunder with EastEnders star guest

The One Show's Alex Jones found herself in an awkward situation during Monday night's episode while interviewing EastEnders actor James Bye. The star, who portrayed Martin Fowler for 11 years before being dramatically killed off in last week's 40th anniversary live episode, joined the hosts on the iconic sofa to discuss his exit.

However, during the conversation, Alex mistakenly referred to him by his character's name. Co-host Roman Kemp initiated the discussion saying: "Now James the live EastEnders episode didn't pull any punches..." followed by a clip of Martin's final dramatic scenes where he was crushed by a metal beam during the Queen Vic explosion and subsequently died of a cardiac arrest.

After the clip, Roman commented: "It feels weird applauding it but it was great, it was unbelievable" as James admitted he hadn't watched it yet. Alex then interjected: "Martin, Martin? I called you Martin! I did. James!" The EastEnders actor responded with: "Right, that's that then!" and feigned walking off the set.

Recovering from her blunder, Alex continued: "I tell you what though, I mean the pressure isn't it, not only are you having to die on screen, you're dying live."

James shared: "I know, I know, listen I was incredibly lucky because I got to do that with my best friend Lacey Turner and we've worked together so much that we sort of knew every little tick that each one of us had. We'd already talked about if one of us went wrong. I was literally holding her hand throughout the whole live (episode) and I can definitely say I would not have been able to do it without her - 100%. Team work.", reports the Mirror.

As clips from devastated EastEnders fans mourning Martin's death were played, James appeared visibly moved by the reactions.

Discussing his departure from the show, James revealed he insisted to the producers that he be the one to inform actress Lacey Turner, who portrayed Martin's former spouse Stacey, of his exit. He explained: "I was sworn to keep it a secret. Obviously the people involved in the storyline they were told not long after I was. In fact I told the exec producer that, well after he made the decision, that you have to let me tell Lacey.

"Anyone else you can tell, but that was the most difficult conversation. Other than telling my wife, she wasn't over the moon with it to be fair. But telling Lacey was tough and it has been a really emotional couple of months."

Martin Fowler, born into the soap world in 1985, met a tragic fate during the live broadcast commemorating EastEnders' 40th anniversary.

Following the pub's explosion, Martin heroically attempted to rescue as many individuals as possible amidst the collapsing structure. After rescuing Stacey, a metal beam tragically fell on his legs.

As he awaited medical assistance, he proposed to Stacey, only for her to be hit with heartbreaking news. Paramedics warned that Martin could potentially suffer from Crush syndrome, a life-threatening condition resulting from severe muscle damage.

Tragically, Martin succumbed to his injuries after the beam was lifted, his death marked by haunting screams reverberating around the Square.

The One Show is on BBC One weekdays at 7pm and on BBC iPlayer