Kellie Bright has recalled almost winning the part of an iconic EastEnders character long before playing Linda Carter.
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The actress joined the BBC One soap in 2013 as the future Queen Vic landlady, Linda, and has been a beloved mainstay in the show ever since and at the centre of some of its biggest plotlines.
The role would ultimately be played by Jo Joyner, who played the character from her arrival in 2006 until her exit as a regular character in 2013.
Joyner later reprised the role for guest stints around the 30th anniversary in 2015, and from late 2017 until early 2018 as part of the exit storylines of her on-screen daughters.
Max (Jake Wood, left) and Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner) in EastEnders in 2006. BBC
Bright responded: "This is very good, good, good research! I did audition. It actually was between myself and Jo Joyner for that part, and I actually screen tested with Jake in the Vic."
A fantastic bit of lore there! Of course, Linda herself has gone on to have an affair with Max and even share a child with him, daughter Annie Carter (now played by Lois Hawkins).
So would it be a full circle moment for Kellie Bright to now play Mrs Branning, two decades after auditioning to play one?
"I don't know," she stated, continuing, "at the moment, where I'm at with her, I can't imagine it. But who knows what will happen this year?"
Given the wedding is on New Year's Day – Linda's wedding anniversary to late soulmate Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) – that would certainly be a choice for Linda – and one Bright can't currently see happening. Yet, stranger things have happened on Albert Square!
EastEnders favourite Kellie Bright strikes a pose at The Radio Times Covers Party 2026. Ray Burmiston for Radio Times
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