{"id":543873,"date":"2026-07-16T05:55:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T05:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/543873\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T05:55:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T05:55:21","slug":"eastenders-casts-comedian-as-mystery-new-woman-in-jack-branning-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/543873\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders casts comedian as mystery new woman in Jack Branning story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Comedian Amy Matthews is joining the cast of EastEnders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Matthews, who has written for Have I Got News for You and appeared in sitcom Scot Squad, will play newcomer Rita.<\/p>\n

In spoiler pictures from next week’s episodes, she can be seen chatting with Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) in The Queen Vic, before flirtatiously placing her hand on his leg.<\/p>\n

It comes as he struggles in his relationship with Denise Fox (Diane Parish), who has declined to open up about her chemotherapy treatment not working. In today’s episode<\/a>, after a challenging confrontation with Sheila Atkins (Sheila Ruskin), she retired to her bedroom and removed her head wrap.<\/p>\n

Jack burst in through the door and witnessed her hair loss, and a traumatised Denise ordered him to leave.<\/p>\n

\"Rita<\/p>\n

Amy Matthews will play Rita.\u00a0BBC\/Jack Barnes\/Kieron McCarron<\/p>\n

A source told Digital Spy<\/a>: “Jack has been Denise\u2019s rock throughout her cancer ordeal so far. But the heartbreaking situation is really beginning to take its toll on this beloved couple.<\/p>\n

“As a dramatic row erupts, Jack storms out \u2013 but what is he doing with a lady in The Vic, and why is her hand on his knee?”<\/p>\n

Rita arrives in the same week as DC Craig Ingram, a junior colleague of Jack<\/a> who takes over some of his cases when Walford Police Station demand he takes compassionate leave.<\/p>\n

Craig is played by former Hollyoaks star Matthew James-Bailey, and before long he’s drawn into another situation that develops in Albert Square.<\/p>\n

Speaking of the new arrival, executive producer Ben Wadey said: “We\u2019re delighted to welcome Matthew to EastEnders, and he has been a fantastic addition to the cast.<\/p>\n

“Craig\u2019s presence in Walford forms part of a storyline involving the Brannings that will unfold this summer.”<\/p>\n

\"Matthew<\/p>\n

Matthew James-Bailey as DC Craig Ingram.\u00a0BBC\/Jack Barnes\/Kieron McCarron<\/p>\n

James-Bailey added: “Joining EastEnders has been a dream come true.<\/p>\n

“From it being the soundtrack to my childhood, always on in the background at home, to gathering around the TV with my family every Christmas, being able to play even a small part in such an iconic piece of British television is truly surreal.”<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n

Visit our dedicated EastEnders<\/a> page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers.<\/p>\n

Add EastEnders to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app<\/a> \u2013 download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.<\/p>\n

Check out more of our Soaps<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide <\/a>to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Comedian Amy Matthews is joining the cast of EastEnders. Matthews, who has written for Have I Got News…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,85,46,411],"class_list":["post-543873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}