JACQUELINE Leonard knows a thing or two about what it’s like behind the scenes of some of our biggest soaps.
The actress made a return to Coronation Street this week as glam Linda Hancock, but EastEnders fans will also remember her fondly as 1990s Albert Square matriarch Lorraine Wicks.
Jacqueline worked on the BBC show when it was pulling in upwards of 15million viewers and the public attention was so intense she recalls being chased by fans and paparazzi.
But she admits life behind the scenes wasn’t always rosy.
In an exclusive chat, Jacqueline addressed former EastEnders star Rita Simons’ recent claims that off-camera the show could be “toxic” at times.
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She says: “I didn’t personally experience the toxicity that Rita described but I could see it was happening.
"There was definitely a hierarchy on set and I just kept myself away from that. But after some time of watching that go on it was time for me to move on, absolutely. I am talking decades ago, though. I've heard nothing but good things from people who are on the show now. [Executive producer] Chris Clenshaw has made the show amazing again.”
Jacqueline worked closely with actor Paul Nicholls, who played her on-screen son Joe, and she admits it was hard watching stars like him and Danniella Westbrook struggle with their very public drug addictions.
“Nobody really looked after the younger actors like Paul and Danniella,” she says. “They were getting themselves into trouble and as a mother I found that difficult to watch.”
And it was one of her reasons for leaving EastEnders.
Jacqueline adds: “I didn’t like what I was seeing. I’d had enough. I was leaving on a high but it was definitely time for me to go.”
Fast forward almost three decades and the soap star insists things in the TV world are different — so much so that she’s hoping her short stay on the Weatherfield cobbles will turn into something more permanent.
She says: “I would love to stick around and the storyline could go in so many different ways. She’s got her family there, she’s flirted with Dev [Jimmi Harkishin] and he’s obviously with Bernie [Jane Hazlegrove] so that could get interesting! I've had people coming up to me in the street saying they're loving the character, so I'm hoping that's a good sign."
Linda is back for Chesney and Gemma's wedding, and Jacqueline adds: "Viewers are going to really enjoy the big day. It’s going to be unmissable TV!"
GLADS TO SEE YOU…
THREE new TV Gladiators have been announced ahead of the show’s big comeback – and one is a Giant, literally.
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Firefighter-turned-bodybuilder Jamie Christian Johal, who is 6ft 5in, will strike fear into contenders when the reboot begins filming next month.
Jamie, who will be nicknamed Giant, says: “I feel like everything in life has led me here.
“I’m honoured to be part of this iconic show that I watched as a child.
“I’ll be bringing my giant stature and personality so contenders had better come prepared!”
Another bodybuilder, Matt Morsia, has been unveiled as Legend and former Team GB Olympic bobsleigh athlete Montell Douglas makes her debut as Fire. Earlier this month Fury (Jodie Ounsley) and Steel (Zack George) were announced as part of the new generation of Gladiators.
MAMBO’S A NO-GO FOR JACK
JACK Whitehall's already feeling anxious about the prospect of becoming a dad.
The funnyman, whose girlfriend Roxy Horner is six months pregnant, says: “We’re at that stage where we’re thinking of names, which is quite stressful.
“She said the other day, ‘I’m called Roxy because I was named after my dad’s favourite song, so maybe we could go that route? And I was like, ‘We’re not calling our child Mambo Number Five’.”
Jack talks about fatherhood tonight on the Chris And Rosie Ramsey Show on BBC One alongside his Travels With My Father co-star, dad MICHAEL.
He also admits he wimped out of asking Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby about their Queen’s funeral queue-jumping when he was a guest on This Morning before the Coronation.
He adds: “I was going to ask if they were going and if they were going to queue up this time. So tempting, but self-destruct.” Shame . . .
