OMG SHOCKING!!! EastEnders icon Jo Joyner responds to calls for Tanya Cross return amid Branning reunions
Jo Joyner has addressed the hope and speculation on whether she could return to EastEnders as Tanya Cross, mum to Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa) and Oscar Branning (Pierre Moullier).
With Joyner’s former on-screen husband Jake Wood having reprised his role as Max, Tanya is the last Branning left to join the reunion – something pointed out to the actress by Love Island star Amy Hart on her Mum’s Club podcast.
After Hart wondered whether Joyner would be heading back to Albert Square, Joyner shared: “You know what really made me laugh the other day, because [Jake] sent me a picture from set and I saw how tall my son is, Oscar.
“I said ‘do they know he’s the Hobbit?'”
Replying to the question on playing Tanya again, she added: “Erm no, not this year.
“Never say never but I have got a lot on this year, so no.”
Tanya was last seen in 2018, unable to face going into the church for the funeral of youngest daughter Abi (Lorna Fitzgerald).
When asked about bringing back the fan-favourite character, EastEnders executive producer Ben Wadey previously told RadioTimes.com and other press:
“We’ve just given you Max and Zoe!”
Praising Joyner, he also said: “Yeah, I mean, Jo’s amazing, isn’t she? We’ve also got an amazing cast with brilliant performances that deserve and need stories.”
So, sadly, it looks like we won’t be seeing Tanya back on our screens any time soon; although at least we don’t need to rule it out entirely!
But happily, Joyner will soon be seen back in the role of Luella Shakespeare, starring alongside Mark Benton in Shakespeare and Hathaway: Private Investigators when it returns for a fifth season this month.