Beale appeal
EastEnders star set for megabucks comeback
EXCLUSIVE
HALINA WATTS Showbiz Editor EASTENDERS bosses could break the bank to bring back Ian Beale after actor Adam Woodyatt issued a “come and get me” plea, it is claimed.
BBC bosses are said to be more desperate than ever for him to return to Albert Square after the Sunday Mirror revealed last week Danny Dyer had quit.
That could land Adam, 53, a very lucrative pay deal.
The longest-running EastEnders star left the soap last year. Before he disappeared from Walford, Ian was sent a bullet in the post – but wasn’t killed off.
Adam said: “I left because of the way the storyline was going because Ian needed to go – not me going, ‘I wanna leave’, or them saying, ‘You’re going’. They’ve got to ask me to go back.”
But the actor added: “The timing has to be right as I don’t know what else I’ll be doing.”
Away from Walford, Adam – who was in the very first EastEnders episode in 1985 – has taken part in ITV’s I’m a Celebrity and appeared in a stage adaption of a Peter James crime book.
He earned more than £250,000a-year in EastEnders – but Danny’s exit will increase his negotiating power.
One insider said getting Adam back was now “a top priority”. They added: “The bosses want Adam back and are prepared to pay – and he knows that.”
We revealed last week that Danny, 44, who plays Queen Vic landlord Mick Carter, quit the soap after being poached for a Sky drama.
Last night an EastEnders spokesman said: “We’ve known for a long time that Danny would be leaving the show at the end of his contract so any suggestion urgent meetings are taking place to discuss who to bring back in light of the news being made public is nothing but speculative nonsense.”
halina.watts@mirror.co.uk DANNY QUITS EASTENDERS
BBC show in crisis as another top star to go
They’ve got to ask me back… the timing has got to be right
ADAM WOODYATT ON RETURN TO EASTENDERS