Inside Soap UK 23 - 2019

“I love the swagger of EastEnders” All soaps have their good days and their, well, less-good days. Or sometimes months. Or sometimes even years. You’d think they’d have it all down to a fine art by now, but what makes being a soap fan so enjoyable is that the shows, while staying fundamentally the same, still remain wildly unpredictable. One day you’re wrinkling your nose at the very idea of a new plot, and the next it’s the strataspherically successful storyline everyone is talking about. (The Maya and Jacob plot is a recent example of that.) At the moment, I’m particularly enjoying the returning energy and swagger of EastEnders, which is really getting back its groove, thanks to playful new management. I mean, it’s all rather silly that our darling…

Cheating Sharon’s world is rocked by a shocking revelation this week – as she realises she’s pregnant! She confirms the bombshell news just as secret lover Keanu pledges his love to her stepdaughter Louise, who is also expecting a child. But although Sharon will be praying that husband Phil has fathered this baby, it looks increasingly likely that Keanu is the daddy of both the Mitchell women’s unborn children! “This is Sharon’s worst nightmare and the moment that will change all their lives forever,” reckons our Walford spy. “It was just a few weeks ago that she and Keanu gave in to their passion one more time at the Arches, and now Sharon’s staring at a positive pregnancy test. She was feeling terrible guilt about her affair with Keanu even…

1 How old is Sharon? She’s 49 – and turns 50 on 22 October. 2 Can you even get pregnant at that age? You certainly can – although it’s very unlikely without some extra help, such as IVF. Only four per cent of women fall pregnant over the age of 45, and less than one per cent at 49. This makes Sharon quite a phenomenon! But then, we always knew that. 3 But wasn’t there a previous storyline in which Sharon discovered that she couldn’t have kids? Her decision to abort abusive husband Grant’s baby back in the 1990s left Sharon with an infection. She was told that this would make her infertile – and she believed she couldn’t have children right up until she discovered she was pregnant with…

Ellis is a broken man this week, as he’s ravaged by panic attacks in the wake of being stabbed. Ellis was seriously injured at the hands of gangster Max’s cronies while on a night out in Hotten, and ended up being treated in hospital. He’s been left a shadow of his former self, and as he struggles to return to life back in the village, he reckons evil Max is looming at every turn. However, is he right to believe that his life remains in danger? “Since being stabbed, Ellis has developed post-traumatic stress disorder, and keeps getting flashbacks to the night it all happened,” sighs Asan N’Jie, who plays Ellis. “It’s making his heart race, he gets really hot, and he can’t stand to be in enclosed spaces. Even…

“About five or six years ago I was involved in a car crash,” reveals Asan, who joined the Dales last year. “Luckily everything was fine, but the car actually flipped over. I was in the passenger seat, and for about three years after that, I wouldn’t dare get in the passenger seat with anyone, which was stressful. “So I can relate to what Ellis is going through, in a way – although I’m much better now. Getting over it isn’t as easy as people think – it’s a serious thing. It’s been very interesting as an actor to bring this subject into Ellis’ character, so hopefully by touching on it, people might be able to come out and speak about it more.”…

Sarah puts the final nail in Gary’s coffin where their relationship is concerned this week – and embarks on a red-hot fling with Street sex god, Adam Barlow! However, with Gary battling to win back the woman he loves – while desperately attempting to cover his tracks as Rana Habeeb’s killer – could Sarah’s new man find himself in the firing line? “This isn’t just your average soap love triangle,” warns our Weatherfield insider. “Gary has already proven how far he is prepared to go when he’s in dire straits, whether he means to hurt anyone or not. He wants Sarah back more than anything, and will be absolutely gutted to think that Adam is standing in his way. The big question is: Will Gary’s next dastardly deed be a…