Ian briefly returned last December for Dot’s funeral (Picture: BBC)
EastEnders legend Adam Woodyatt – who has played Ian Beale since 1985 – is not happy after his image was used without his knowledge or consent in an ad for a diet product.
The ad, which Adam shared on his Instagram with the brand name hidden, uses two pictures of him which purport to be ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures. It claims the product helped Adam to ‘get rid of alcohol’ and lose weight.
A furious Adam commented on the picture, ‘A friend saw this advert on Facebook or whatever it is called this year and sent it to me. It is 100% NOTHING to do with me.’
He says that he’s aware of various accounts pretending to be him on Instagram and says as soon as they’re blocked and reported ‘another one pops up.’ He adds that he rarely uses Facebook and Twitter and he rarely checks his messages on Instagram.
‘Please be careful on Social Media,’ he warns.
The star played Ian Beale, one of Walford’s original cast of characters and the longest-serving. He was last seen in December last year when Ian turned up at Dot’s funeral to pay his respects to the beloved character and to June Brown, the actress who played her.
Prior to that he left Walford in 2021 following a storyline in which Sharon (Letitia Dean) plotted to kill him, as revenge for the role she thought he’d played in the death of her son Dennis (Bleu Landau).
Fans have long clamoured for Adam’s return to the show, so his appearance at the funeral sparked fresh hope, especially after his character was seen talking to someone on the phone, saying. ‘Hello love. Yes, I’m coming home.’ There was speculation that the person on the other end of the call could have been his ex-wife Jane (Laurie Brett).
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When asked about a possible return to Albert Square for Ian Beale, producer Chris Clenshaw was playing his cards close to his chest.
‘He’s on the phone to someone!’ he said of the scenes at the funeral. ‘We know who! I think Adam’s a little bit busy at the moment, but Adam is Ian Beale.’
We’ll take that as an optimistic ‘Maybe.’
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‘Please be careful on Social Media’, he warned.
