Peggy Mitchell may be gone, but her onscreen offspring are still causing ructions. Seemingly Danniella Westbrook (AKA the original Sam Mitchell; there was that other one for a while who was involved in the death of Dirty Den) made a questionable TV appearance earlier in the week thanks to her stint on 'Up Late With Rylan'. Yes, Rylan Clark's got his own show now.
Seemingly the actress became emotional mid-interview, and claimed that an 'unnamed EastEnders cast member' had been spreading lies about her contract being cut short due to her behaviour on set. It had reported that the 42-year-old "frequently showed up late for filming with her 23-year-old toy boy George Arnold in tow, which reportedly led to him being banned from the set."
The unnamed source speaking with The Sun said: “It was her last day of filming on Saturday and she won’t be back. This is a huge opportunity lost for Danniella."
A rep for the actress says this is a load of Danniella, however, had this to say to The Daily Mail: "She didn’t get fired she worked her full contract. It’s absolute lies. She was not fired she fulfilled her contract and she was booked for two episodes and that is what she shot."
Huge thank you to my lovely mate @Rylan for such a lovely interview . Thank you end. @channel5_tv for having my back pic.twitter.com/dIoRRxFJot
— Danniella Westbrook (@westbrookdanni) May 17, 2016
Speaking on Rylan's talk show, she said: "I was never called to an office, I never had a phone call, I was never given a letter, email or anything to say any of these things, just a phone call [from a newspaper] on Sunday night and then ‘EastEnders’ said to me it was leaked by a cast member. I was fine on set and I did everything properly because the job means a lot to me and the character means a lot to me, as do the Mitchells and Barbara. I do feel really disappointed in the way I’ve been treated a bit and not protected."
Earlier in the week, during an interview with Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, Daniella also said: "I think, along with the general public, expected to work alongside Barbara [Windsor] and Ross [Kemp], and we don’t actually all do anything together at any one time. I sort of was [upset] actually as I thought it would have been nice to have us all together doing something. I literally go in for the funeral and out. I’m literally there for four episodes in one week.”
Westbrook obviously had a change of heart, as she tweeted this by way of an apology yesterday.
I wasn't told personally it was a cast member By the bbc press office that sold the story .J want to apologise for that & wish it was over 😔
— Danniella Westbrook (@westbrookdanni) May 18, 2016