BBC EastEnders icon Ian Beale says co-star 'shaken up' after live episode blunder

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Adam Woodyatt, famed for his long-standing role as Ian Beale in EastEnders, has opened up about a co-star being left "shaken up" after a mishap during a live scene.

The 56-year-old actor discussed the incident in 'EastEnders at 40: Behind the Scenes', which aired yesterday to mark the soap's 40th anniversary, Leicester Mercury reports.

This week's festivities also included a live episode on Thursday, but it wasn't the BBC cast's first experience with live broadcasting; their initial live stint was in 2010 for the 25th anniversary, and the 30th anniversary in 2015 featured "live elements" throughout three episodes, leading up to an entirely live final episode.

However, a notable error from a past live event has resurfaced, involving Jo Joyner, 47, who portrayed Tanya Branning. She accidentally referred to Ian by Adam Woodyatt's real name in a scene, asking Laurie Brett's character Jane Beale: "How's Adam?"

Reflecting on the slip-up, Adam said in the documentary: "We all felt for Jo. You've gotta think how she felt - that whenever anybody mentions the live now that's what gets mentioned. She can't escape from it".

He recounted: "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 with EastEnders since its inception in 1985, spoke openly about the perils of live performances, saying: "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 had previously shared with Radio Times her experience with a live episode error: "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."

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In a conversation with Gaby Roslin on BBC London Radio, she expressed how emotional she felt after making a mistake: "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 described the incident as "like an out of body experience" and confessed to "hyperventilating" before facing the cameras again for another live scene.

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