“My mum wants to come to Woody’s wedding!”

LEE RYAN

Thinking of Lee Ryan as a newcomer is odd, considering all his years in chart-topping boy band Blue – but Lee was very much the new boy when Walford bosses thrust him behind the Vic bar as cheeky ladies’ man Woody. “I still can’t believe I’m doing this!” exclaims the star, who is like an excited kid at Christmas as we congratulate him on being offered a full-time role in Eastenders…

Hi, Lee. You’re back in the show and up for the Best Newcomer gong at our Awards – congrats!

Thanks! It’s an amazing compliment, and it’s the last thing I expected – I honestly feel as though I’ve been blagging it! All I’ve ever done is be in Blue, so to be recognised as an actor and to be doing it by myself makes me feel like I’ve already won.

Have you had any good advice from your Eastenders co-stars?

A lovely thing happened to me recently. The legend that is June Brown [who plays Dot] came up to me and said: “Lee, I just want to let you know that you’re an amazing actor”. Then she went on to give me some really great tips. Amazing!

Have you found that people are recognising you more from soapland than your band?

Yeah, they are and it’s happening a lot more. The younger generation are spotting me out in the street and shouting things like, “That’s Woody from Eastenders!”.

What did you think when you heard about Woody’s engagement to Whitney?

I thought to myself, ‘Oh God, I’m actually going to get married’. My mum has already asked if she can come! I don’t think the wedding would be all that flamboyant – Woody and Whitney aren’t materialistic, so they might want to keep things simple. But this is Eastenders, so who knows what’ll happen!

Do you like having Shona Mcgarty (Whitney) as your work wife?

I adore her – she is such a sweetheart! I think we annoy everyone because we constantly sing songs. Shona does a really good Shakira impression that should be on Stars In Their Eyes!

Is there anyone among the Eastenders cast who you’d particularly like to work with?

Steve Mcfadden. I’m mostly in the Queen Vic, but I’d like Woody to have something to do with Phil Mitchell. Woody could get into a dodgy situation and muck it up. Anything that puts him out of his depth would be great.

If Albert Square bosses ever decided to bring in members of Woody’s family, who would you cast to play them?

My mum would probably want to do it, to be fair. Whenever she’s running lines with me, she actually tries to act out the scenes, which really makes me laugh! But who would I love? I tell you who would smash it: Joanna Lumley. She would be awesome as Woody’s mum!

Is there anyone you particularly admire from the other soaps?

I think Kym Marsh, who plays Michelle in Corrie, is amazing. I really look up to her because she’s been acting a lot longer than I have, and has come from where I’ve come from and made a very successful career. She’s highly respected for it.

Is there a rivalry between you and your Blue bandmate Duncan James – aka Ryan Knight in Hollyoaks – now that you’re in opposing soaps?

Not really. Hollyoaks is a very different show, right down to the mechanics of the way it’s filmed. Duncan is doing his thing, I’m doing mine, and we’re like brothers. I just want him to succeed and be happy, with lots of love in his life.

What have you found most rewarding about your time at Eastenders so far?

Being here, doing this shoot and being nominated in the Inside Soap

Awards, I would say! It genuinely means a lot to me, and when you’ve been through ups and downs in your career as I have, you appreciate the good times more. I still look around the Square and have a little giggle to myself and think, ‘How did I get this?’. I hope that I’m forever feeling that way, because sometimes it’s good to step out, take a look and appreciate the madness for what it is!