Soaps

'EastEnders' Jo Joyner 'privileged by cancer storyline'

Published Tuesday, Sep 20 2011, 19:25 BST | By Paul Millar | 7 comments

Tanya is told she'll have to wait another day for her results.

EastEnders star Jo Joyner has said that she feels grateful to be tackling a cancer storyline.

The 34-year-old's Albert Square alter ego Tanya Branning was recently diagnosed with cancer, but did not tell her ex-husband Max (Jake Wood) or her daughters Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa) and Abi (Lorna Fitzgerald).

Joyner told Soaplife magazine: "It's a privilege to be given any sort of serious storyline and a real responsibility.

"I'm going to make it as honest and true to life as I possibly can. I will grab every chance I can to show Tanya dropping her guard."

Delving into her character's past, Joyner added: "Tanya remembers her mum looking at her dad with pity and she'd hate that happening to her.

"Tanya's dad died of cancer and she nursed him through it. She's seen it first hand and therefore has a deep-seated fear of it."

> EastEnders Tanya secret will be discovered, says Jo Joyner
> EastEnders cancer plot is a responsibility, says Jo Joyner