After months of alleged misery on EastEnders under now-departed producer Sean O’Connor, things are DEFINITELY looking up.
Replacement boss John Yorke has apparently lifted a ban which could earn the cast a lot more smash.
It’s understood that, under the old regime all the actors – bar Steve McFadden and Adam Woodyatt – were not allowed to accept panto offers.
Oh, no, they weren’t.
But, according to The Sun, Yorke wants to do whatever he can to raise morale.
A source told the tabloid: “John has made it his mission to meet with disgruntled stars and find out what has gone wrong.
“One of his concessions was to give people the green light to take on pantos if they balance it with filming.
“The ban has always been a big bone of contention with many of the stars so it was a smart move.”
With reports that the stars could earn an extra £180K (oh yes they can!) for just a month’s work, we bet it was a huge bone of contention.
Apparently Steve and Adam managed to swerve this alleged ban with clauses in their contracts – clever boys!
Steve bagged £180,000 for being Captain Hook in Plymouth over the festive period, while Adam swagged £130,000 for the same role in Swindon.
There’s good news for the Phil Mitchell actor, too, though – apparently Yorke has plans to beef up his soap role.
Let’s just hope for him it’s not round Christmas!
Yorke proved a popular show runner for the soap during an earlier tenure in the noughties and has been brought back – temporarily – to get ratings, which have fallen as low as 3.4million, right back up.
In his day, he was responsible for bringing in the Slater family and all the incredible accompanying storylines.