EastEnders and Coronation Street live episode blunders: Relive the most awkward soap mistakes

27 July 2020, 15:12 | Updated: 27 July 2020, 15:19

The cast of Corrie and EastEnders have had some slip ups during the live episodes over the years.

EastEnders and Coronation Street are never short of drama.

Whether it’s a torrid affair, mass murderer on the loose or even a boat crash, the soaps never fail to deliver.

Over the years, bosses have also left viewers on the edge of their seats with a handful of special live episodes.

EastEnders kicked things off with their 25th anniversary live episode in 2010 which saw poor Bradley Branning fall to his death, before filming a full week of live specials for their 30th birthday in 2015.

Corrie followed on in December 2010 with a live episode of their own, documenting the infamous tram crash in Weatherfield which killed Ashley Peacock (Steven Arnold) and Molly Dobbs (Vicky Binns).

But while the cast and crew delivered some incredible scenes, the soaps inevitably made a few mistakes live on air. So, let's take a look back at some of the biggest live blunders…

EastEnders - ‘How’s Adam?’

One of the most notorious mistakes saw Jo Joyner (Tanya Branning) accidentally refer to her co-star Adam Woodyatt’s character - Ian Beale - by his own name.

This left her asking ‘How’s Adam?’ instead of ‘How’s Ian?’, before quickly realising her mistake and looking mortified.

She and Laurie Brett (Jane Beale) stared awkwardly for a moment, before quickly covering their mistake and carrying on like pros.

EastEnders - "How's Adam?" Jo Joyner Messes Up Her Line (18th February 2015) 30th Anniversary Week

EastEnders - Lacey’s slip up

Jo wasn’t the only one to fall into the trap of using an actor’s name, as Lacey Turner (Stacey Branning), also called her own husband Bradley (Charlie Clements) by the wrong name.

During the 2010 ‘Who Killed Archie Mitchell?’ episode, she was heard shouting ‘Charlie’ moments before he fell from the roof of the Queen Vic.

Bradley Branning falls to his death in EastEnders’ 25th anniversary episode

Coronation Street - Sally Webster’s hard hat

Coronation Street’s live tram crash episode was highly praised for being almost faultless.

But there was one moment eagle-eyed viewers picked up on where Sally Dynevor’s character Sally Webster was told she must wear a hard hat to see dying Molly Dobbs (Vicky Binns).

She subsequently failed to wear one throughout the heartbreaking scenes.

EastEnders - Max Branning’s retching

Back to Walford, and Jake Wood suffered his own mistake when his character Max Branning was tasked with being sick after seeing his son Bradley die.

After Jake failed to vomit, he was forced to stick his fingers down his throat.

Speaking about the incident on This Morning, the actor explained: "Well it was in the script that Max saw Bradley lying dead and was sick, so at some point we talked about putting the liquid in my mouth then realised we’d have no time to do that.

“But to me [what I did] felt very real, if you were going to be sick anyway that you might do that, to get it all out.”

During the same scene, viewers also spotted that Bradley’s ‘dead’ body moved, as actor Charlie Clements could be seen breathing on screen.

Jack Branning actor Scott Malsen forgot his lines during EastEnders’ live episode

EastEnders - Jack’s stumble

Jack Branning actor Scott Malsen bumbled over his lines in a particularly tense scene with Lacey, Charlie and Jake.

Poor Scott couldn’t remember what he was saying and accidentally told Stacey that "Bradley didn't tell the public" instead of "Bradley didn't tell the police,” before managing to pull it back and finish the scene.

EastEnders - Ronnie stealing from the Mini mart

Samantha Womack (Ronnie Mitchell) admitted her mistake when she was seen entering the supermarket, picking up some paint stripper and leaving with the cash still in her hand.

While viewers largely didn’t notice, Samantha later admitted she’d totally forgotten that part of the script.