Ackley Bridge

Season 4 SABC3 (*193) 19:30 Drama

Before Jo Joyner was a household name as amateur sleuth Luella Shakespeare in British buddy cop drama Shakespeare & Hathaway – Mondays on BBC (*120) at 20:00 – she played headteacher Mandy Carter at Ackley Bridge College. While she loves the show, and is still appearing in the newest season 5, Jo says that her own school life was very different. “I’m not sure I’d be called a star student. I’m grateful for the education I was given, but I didn’t want to be at school. I’d go bunking a lot with friends and I’d have detention almost weekly,” says the 45-year-old actress.

1 High school might’ve been a pain for her, but she loved college. Jo attended the Royal Welsh College Of Music & Drama in Cardiff and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Acting.

She’s the proud mother of twins 2 Freddie McCormick and Edie Rose (12) but struggled to fall pregnant with them. “I went for in vitro fertilization as we (she’s been married to little-known actor Neil Madden since 2007) didn’t have luck the traditional way. It was the best decision of our lives,” she says.

3 She did a lot of research before the procedure and since then has been a supporter and campaigner of PANDAS charities. “Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections affect so many pregnant mothers and their children. It’s important to get the word out and get people aware of it,” adds Jo.

She’s a nature lover and has a very 4 important bucket list item to check off: Visiting South Africa. “I want to go to the Kruger National Park. I want to see Africa’s wildlife in the wild. I don’t like zoos. I planned to visit two years ago but the global lockdown stopped us travelling,” reveals Jo.