Nicola Stapleton: I want Jane Beale at wedding!

Nicola Stapleton: I want Jane Beale at wedding!
Nicola Stapleton: I want Jane Beale at wedding! (Image credit: BBC)

EastEnders actress Nicola Stapleton has said she would love Ian Beale's ex-wife to turn up at his and Mandy's wedding, admitting it would "spice things up". Her EastEnders alter ego Mandy Salter is poised to become Ian's fifth wife after he pops the question - and she told Inside Soap magazine that having Jane (Laurie Brett) return could make things very interesting. "I really hope she comes back at the worst possible moment. That would spice things up a bit, wouldn't it?" Nicola said. But despite Ian's proposal, the actress admitted she does not know if he and Mandy will actually make it up the aisle. "I don't know at the moment if the pair of them will actually get married - we haven't got that far in the storyline yet," she said. Nicola added that she is loving being back in the soap, having returned earlier this year after a 17-year absence from Albert Square. The character made her comeback after Ian met her working in a strip club and realised who she was. "I'm having the best time being back here at EastEnders. I'm very pleased that the audience has jumped on the Mandy bandwagon as well," Nicola revealed. "I think viewers are pleased to have her back, and I'm absolutely thrilled to be here as well."

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.