EastEnders star Michelle Ryan has hit back at claims that she burned her scripts from the soap. The actor, who plays Zoe Slater, reprised her role last year after a decade away from Walford.
A few months after her explosive return, Ryan shared a photo on social media of a stack of papers, engulfed in flames. The papers were believed to have been scripts from the BBC show, fueling rumours that she was unhappy with her new storylines.
Taking to Instagram on Friday, Ryan finally decided to set the record straight with regards to the “factually incorrect story”. She reiterated that the burned items were early drafts of her own work.
BBC
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“On the 4th of January 2026 I posted an image of a small bucket with burning papers inside of it,” she wrote in the caption, alongside a photo of a plant. “The papers were as stated in the post ‘early drafts of scripts and notebooks’ that had I had written.
“A story then ran claiming the scripts were property of the BBC. However actors employed on EastEnders for the BBC are never given early drafts of any scripts. Whilst this is known internally, it is being shared externally for clarity.”
The star concluded: “A script is sacrosanct to an actor and as a published writer myself it’s about respect.”
Ryan received support from fans in the comment section who assured her that her original post was abundantly clear, and praised her for shutting down the false claims.
BBC
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“Go champ! You needn’t justify yourself for anything but hats off to you for putting your foot down!” wrote one, with another adding: “Well said but I thought you made this perfectly clear when you posted the photo originally, Michelle.”
A third said: “Thanks for clarifying! It’s good to set the record straight when misinformation is spread, especially concerning your work and professional integrity.”
EastEnders airs on Mondays – Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.
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