EastEnders star Shona McGarty lands huge role after quitting BBC soap

EastEnders' Whitney Dean's baby's name has been revealed, but there's a heartbreaking twist with the BBC soap gearing up for some explosive scenes next week as Whitney's exit looms. In the upcoming episodes, Whitney and Zack Hudson's wedding day arrives, but it's marred by a shocking revelation as Lauren Branning's secret affair with Zack is finally exposed in dramatic fashion.

The Fortune Hotel star Stephen Mangan has opened up about the “terrifying” health scare he experienced following the death of his parents. Stephen, who is known for appearing in shows including The Split, has most recently turned his attention to TV presenting as the new host of The Fortune Hotel. Launching on ITV, the show will see 10 pairs battle it out to attempt to win the £250,000 jackpot.

EastEnders star Patsy Kensit has reportedly ended her engagement to property mogul Patric Cassidy following a series of heated arguments. A source told The Sun: “It’s been a tumultuous relationship between Patsy and Patric. “While there was a lot of passion in their whirlwind romance, and they had a lot in common, ultimately it became too much hard work.

The official page of the Netherlands' Songfestival, which sends acts to Eurovision Song Contest, has finally broken its silence on Dutch act Joost Klein's disqualification.They revealed that the incident leading to Joost's disqualification involved him being filmed despite his repeated objections.The statement from the Netherlands' Songfestival also mentioned that Dutch radio and television broadcaster AVROTROS found Joost Klein's disqualification "disproportionate". Detailing why Eurovision officials have barred Joost from participating in Saturday's final, the statement read: "An incident occurred after last Thursday's performance.

With mere hours left to go until the Eurovision Song Contest gets underway on Saturday evening, the annual musical extravaganza has been thrown into chaos following an incident involving Dutch act Joost Klein.The performer, who qualified for the grand final earlier this week with his song Europapa, was “pulled” from rehearsing for tomorrow’s show “until further notice.” In a statement to the PA news agency, the European Broadcasting Union who televise the show said: "We are currently investigating an incident that was reported to us involving the Dutch artist. He will not be rehearsing until further notice.” "We have no further comment at this time and will update in due course." In preparation for the grand final, all 26 competitors have been taking part in a dress rehearsal ahead of the performance, however while Joost did appear during the Flag Parade, he didn’t perform his song Europapa when the time came.

Coronation Street's Sair Khan, who plays Alya Nazir on the ITV soap, has announced the arrival of her first child just days after leaving the show.The actress took to Instagram to share the joyous news that she and partner Nathan Chilton have welcomed a baby boy. The couple couldn't be happier with their new bundle of joy. Posting some adorable snaps of the trio, she penned: "He's here! Okay, when I said 'Spring awakening' in my last post I didn't mean 'keep' me awake.The new parent zombie look is definitely a thing isn't it.

Coronation Street star Chris Gascoyne will soon be returning to screens, months after he was seen leaving the cobbles as Peter Barlow. There was an end of an era in the ITV soap on Boxing Day as Peter and wife Carla Connor called it quits, bringing to an end one of soap fans' most-loved relationships.

A former EastEnders star is set to make a showbiz comeback after being out of the spotlight since January. Actor Bobby Davro, famed for playing Vinnie Monks in the BBC One soap, suffered a terrifying health scare at the start of the year and has been recovering at home over the past four months following a hospital stay. Bobby, 65, is now ready to return to the spotlight and will be taking to the stage with a new comedy set at the Edinburgh Fringe.The show, titled Everything Is Funny If You Can Laugh At It, is scheduled to run from 2 August until 25 August, according to The Sun.

Terri Dwyer is probably best known for playing one of Hollyoaks' original characters, Ruth Osborne.The 50 year old was first cast in the Channel 4 soap back in 1995 and made her debut appearance in January 1996. But after being away from the soap world for so long, fans were recently left stunned by the fact that she hasn't aged one bit.

EastEnders actress Lorraine Stanley has officially unveiled her latest career plans after leaving the BBC soap earlier this year. As regular viewers will know, Lorraine announced her character Karen Taylor’s departure last August, with the character last seen on screen in February 2024.

A former EastEnders star has been confirmed as Death in Paradise's new lead detective.

Christmas has come early this year for Danny Dyer, who is already in festive mode to film an upcoming film in London.The former EastEnders star was spotted shooting new movie Christmas Karma with The Big Bang Theory's Kunal Nayyar on Thursday. Danny is set to play a London black cabbie in the festive flick, which has been written, directed and produced by Bend It Like Beckham's Gurinder Chadha.The film is modern Bollywood musical based on Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. In new pictures, Danny - who's sporting a Christmas jumper, fetching cap and a gilet - can be seen chuckling along with Gurinder.

Death in Paradise has revealed the next lead to replace Ralf Little on the BBC show - and he's a familiar face to EastEnders fans. The series announced on Thursday that Don Gilet, 57 - who famously played serial killer Lucas Johnson on EastEnders - would become the new star of Death in Paradise. He'll make his debut in the show's feature-length Christmas special this December.

EastEnders fans have spotted a glaring error in Whitney Dean's final storyline, ahead of her departure from the show. Shona McGarty, who plays Whitney, recently announced her exit from the BBC soap and while the exact details of her exit plot are yet to be revealed, it is known that her unofficial fostering of young Britney is part of her farewell arc.

Vanessa Feltz is set to join LBC with a brand new Saturday show, following her departure from TalkTV.

Alexandra Jarvis is coming for the Oppenheim Group.

As soap favourite Heather Trott actress Cheryl Fergison was part of the Albert Square family, forming strong bonds with a number of her co-stars. But it was the late and much loved Barbara Windsor to whom she will forever be particularly grateful after the actress helped keep her financially afloat. Battling Stage 2 cancer of the womb Cheryl had confided in Barbara and her husband Scott - and they immediately dipped into their own coffers to ease her worries.

Strictly Come Dancing star Bobby Brazier and his famous family will reportedly be appearing in the upcoming series of Celebrity Gogglebox. After narrowly missing out on Strictly's Glitterball Trophy last December, the 20 year old heartthrob is taking his place on the iconic sofa with dad, Jeff Brazier, and younger brother Freddie for some telly banter.

BBC EastEnders star Shona McGarty, who plays Whitney Dean, will be leaving Walford very soon after over a decade on-screen.The actress announced in July 2023 that she would be bowing out, and has finally finally revealed why she is bidding farewell to the show.Talking to The Sun, Shona, 32, said: “There are other opportunities and areas of the industry I want to explore before I get too old! All things come to an end and this is the new chapter of my life. I’ve had a really good run and Whitney needs a break. She’s had a pretty tough paper round.” Over the years, Whitney has had huge storylines from being groomed as a child, to kidnap, affairs, stalking and baby loss.

Line of Duty star Martin Compston has expressed his desire for fellow actor Danny Dyer to join the show. In a candid chat with the Mirror, the Steve Arnott portrayer disclosed that while there are currently no definite plans to revive their beloved characters, if the popular BBC series were to swing back into action, he thinks 46 year old Danny would be a fabulous choice.