EastEnders legend reveals real reason she quit the soap and vows not to return

AN EASTENDERS legend has revealed the real reason she quit the soap and vows not to return.

Jo Joyner has firmly ruled out returning to Albert Square and reprising her role as Tanya Branning.

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The actress, 46, played the mother-of-two from 2006 until 2018.

While EastEnders fans are hoping for Tanya to return, Jo has confirmed that won't be happening.

Speaking exclusively to The Sun's TV Mag, she revealed the real reason why she quit the BBC soap.

"As soon as you got bored of one thing, you got a different thing, a new adventure," she said.

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"That was very much the reason to come back out and I’ve been
lucky to do the same thing since, to mix things up. Variety’s the spice of life."

When Jo looks back on her time at EastEnders, she fondly remembers the Christmas fallout where Tanya learned her husband Max had been having an affair with Stacey Slater.

"That Christmas special, one of the things I love about that as well was that it was a real testament to great writing and investment in stories and characters because a lot of Christmas specials for things, they throw a lot of money at it, lots of stunts and things…

"We had a rain machine, maybe, and apart from that we just had the actors on one set so that was quite unusual. It shows that without good writing, it’s all nothing."

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Jo last appeared in the soap in January when her on-screen daughter Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald) died after falling from the roof of the Queen Vic.

Meanwhile, she's hinted Channel 4 comedy No Angels could return after revealing secret talks have taken place.

The actress played Beverly 'Beth' Nicholls in the show.

Speaking exclusively to The Sun's TV Mag, Jo said she and the rest of the cast are up for reuniting.

"We would love to, all of the Angels girls would love to and we did even approach a couple of people to ask about it. We’d love to, genuinely," the former EastEnders star said.

The Sun's TV Mag is free inside Saturday's newspaper.

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