Former Shameless favourite, Maggie O’Neill, is set to join the cast of EastEnders as Phil Mitchell’s love interest. Unlucky. You may remember Maggie playing Sheila in the TVScoop fave, but in Th’enders, O’Neill will play Suzy Branning, Max and Jack’s sister. The new character, arriving in July, is “glamorous and independent”, and sets her sights on Walford hardman Phil.

O’Neill said: “The Brannings are a great family and I’m excited to become one of them. Suzy is a woman to be reckoned with.” The Brannings have played a central role in EastEnders in recent years, culminating in Tanya’s bid to bury husband Max alive after Tanya found out Max was getting his leg over with his son’s wife. Yipes!

O’Neill, who appeared in Shameless until last year, also won critical acclaim for her leading role in 1989 drama Take Me Home, in which she played a young woman having an affair with a much older married man. Diederick Santer, executive producer of EastEnders, said the actress was “yet another top drawer addition to our wonderful cast”.

In other news, the BBC One soap has also announced that actress Emma Barton will be leaving the show after her character Honey Mitchell is written out later this year. Billy’s face is about to get even longer no doubt.