50 Cent to guest-star in EastEnders

50 Cent to guest-star in EastEnders
50 Cent to guest-star in EastEnders (Image credit: AP/Press Association Images)

50 Cent is set to appear in the BBC soap in a one-off cameo role, according to reports in The mirror. 50 Cent became a big fan of Eastenders after being introduced to it by footballer friend Rio Ferdinand. After weeks of discussion, the show's TV bosses are thrilled that the US star has agreed to swap the Hollywood Hills for Walford market within the next six months. However, the rapper has admitted to being disappointed that it was too late to appear on screen with Barbara Windsor, who played the legendary Peggy Mitchell and who recently left the soap. 50 Cent said: "I really wanted Peggy to throw me out of her pub, but I didn't get it organised quick enough and it's too late now. “I've performed with Eminem and Justin Timberlake, acted with De Niro and Pacino, had a guest spot on The Simpsons - in the US a sign you've made it to the very top, but I can't fulfil my biggest showbiz dream.” Other celebrities have appeared in Eastenders over the years, including London Mayor Boris Johnson last October, David Walliams in 2003, while Robbie Williams was in the background of a 1995 scene. Click here to watch whatsontv.co.uk’s weekly soaps video preview, the Soap Scoop Please add this to all EastEnders stories/episodes for the foreseeable future: Get EastEnders storylines first! Sign up to receive our EastEnders Extra newsletter

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.