Jessie Wallace ordered home from the British Soap Awards for being too drunk after bender that started at 4pm

EASTENDERS actress Jessie Wallace was sent home drunk from the British Soap Awards after an all-day bender.

The star, 46, who plays Kat Slater started boozing at 4pm — hours before the ceremony.

Sozzled Jessie was asked by a waiting taxi driver: “Drunk again? Shall I get you a sick bag?”

The boozed-up EastEnders star, 46, was said to be “furious” at being ordered home from the British Soap Awards.

Pals fear for the actress, who did not even make it to the red carpet.

She appeared worse for wear on the way to Saturday evening’s ceremony - sharing a photo of her slumped in a taxi at 3.47pm. A pal wrote: “Off to the awards we go.”

But she never made it — as she was packed off home by 7pm after refusing to stop drinking at the pre-awards reception.

It sparked fears Jessie, who plays mouthy Kat Slater, could be slipping back to the party lifestyle which almost ended her career. An awards insider said: “Jessie had obviously been drinking quite heavily before she arrived.

“She was slurring her words, and then started knocking them back at the pre-ceremony party too.

“Someone approached her and told her she needed to slow down but she seemed to totally ignore the advice and was angry about being told what to do.

“One of the organisers was then encouraging her to leave the bar area and take her seat for the awards. But she got pretty feisty about it and insisted she was staying instead.

“She claimed she was fine but she obviously wasn’t. She made her feelings totally clear by mouthing off. It looked like the sort of thing Kat would do, except it was real life. It was like the Jessie of old.”

By 7pm EastEnders staff had booked her a taxi and ordered her to leave before she could pose on the red carpet at East London’s Hackney Empire.

Sources said Jessie was “fuming” at her early exit.

Lacey Turner, who plays Stacey Slater, was overheard claiming her former co-star had been affected by sunstroke.

Albert Square insiders also tried to blame the weather, and insisted she left willingly.

A panicked source said: “Jessie hadn’t been to this sort of event for a while and probably did get a bit carried away. But she knew she’d had too much and agreed to go.

“EastEnders use a regular car firm who were due to pick her up after the show but colleagues had to call for them to come and get her straight away.”

Jessie is one of the soap’s most-popular stars, returning this year as Kat after previous stints from 2000 to 2005 and 2010 to 2016.

But her party lifestyle has landed her in trouble. In the mid-2000s she was exposed for using the drug ketamine.

She has been suspended from the show for bad behaviour and threatened with the axe.

The mum of one was also convicted of drink-driving in 2003 and attended counselling sessions.

In March fans spotted her collapsed drunk in the street in London’s Soho.

After seeing a video of it, Chris Osborne, her ex from a decade earlier, said: “Looking back at it, she probably needed a bit of help. It was mayhem.”

A spokeswoman for EastEnders declined to comment on Jessie’s early exit.