EastEnders slaps banned

Health and safety chiefs say the stars can no longer slap each...

10:30 13 April 2010

The cast of EastEnders have been officially banned from filming real slaps for fight scenes by BBC health and safety chiefs.

John Partridge revealed the ruling on 'This Morning' as he discussed the slap that Zainab Masood (played by Nina Wadia) landed on his character Christian Clarke as they argued at New Year.

Partridge explained that he and Wadia had wanted the blow to be real for authenticity, but the producers were wholly against it. "They were like, 'Absolutely not!'" Instead a stunt co-coordinator was drafted in to help create "a staged slap".

The actor commented: "I think she might've knocked my teeth out if it was real!"

Wadia said: "I thought, 'What? We need a stunt coordinator for a slap?'"

Responding to Partridge's remarks, a BBC spokesperson told the Daily Mail: "As with most action scenes, we always have a stunt director present to make sure that our scenes look realistic but to ensure that no-one is injured.

"If a scene permits and the actor chooses to do the stunt themselves, it would be carefully choreographed to make sure that no-one is injured during filming."

EastEnders is notorious for its high level of slapping to resolve (or fuel) character disputes.