Jo Joyner won’t be back on ‘EastEnders’ this year.
The 41-year-old actress has played Tanya Cross on and off since 2006, with her latest appearance coming earlier this year when her on-screen daughter Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald) died, but she has ruled out another Albert Square attendance in 2018 because she will be too busy shooting BBC crime comedy ‘Shakespeare & Hathaway’.
She said: "Never say never. At the moment I’m going straight into ‘Shakespeare & Hathaway’ next, in September up until Christmas.
"It’s a lovely little show about two detectives.
"So I won’t be there [‘EastEnders’] for now."
While Jo became a household name for playing Tanya, she is pleased to have welcomed a younger fan base recently from starring as head teacher Mandy Carter in Channel 4 school drama ‘Ackley Bridge’.
Speaking on ITV’s ‘Lorraine’, she added: "Every day someone will say something to me about it, or who has watched it and enjoyed it. And they’re all different ages, which is lovely.
"There’s a whole band of teenagers who don’t know who I am and are too young to have seen me when I was in ‘EastEnders’, so it’s really nice to have that enthusiasm again."
Jo recently distanced herself from an ‘EastEnders’ return, admitting she would have to move her whole family if she was to reprise her role as Tanya on a permanent basis.
She exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "At the moment I love where I live and I live out in the countryside and it’s a big commute for me if I was to do ‘EastEnders’ regularly. We’d all have to move, the whole family would have to move.
"The kids are so young and I love the fact they can grow up in the country. It’s just not the right time for me to go back at the moment. But I’ll never say never."
Jo Joyner rules out EastEnders return in 2018
