EastEnders fans getting geared up for the soap wedding of the year this summer are to be disappointed. The show’s Michelle Ryan, who in her role as Zoe Slater was due to marry Albert Square’s Dr Trueman, is suffering from extreme nervous exhaustion and has been ordered to rest.
This means that the high-profile on-screen nuptials will have to be postponed. Michelle, 18, was due to film the wedding sequence with Dr Trueman actor Nicholas Bailey, but the programme’s scriptwriters are now busy rewriting around her absence.
The move to screen top soaps up to five times a week, has resulted in punishing recording schedules. And Michelle has apparently suffered a series of mild ailments as a result of being run down and is too tired to continue working.
“Michelle, her parents and Louise (EastEnders executive producer, Louise Berridge) have decided she should take time out from the show after doctors advised her to rest,” said a spokesperson for the show.
The relationship between barrow girl Zoe and the Square’s medic has provided the award-winning soap with some of its hottest storylines in recent weeks, with Zoe’s mother, a former flame of the Doc, also vying for his attention. A spokesperson for the programme said that the wedding will not make TV screens until August at the earliest.
Michelle is currently dating Footballers Wives actor Gary Lucy.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
