EastEnders' Jessie Wallace sues over claims she's jealous of Letitia Dean

 
P19 Kat Slater and Sharon Eastenders
BBC
Maxine Frith4 December 2012

Eastenders star Jessie Wallace has launched libel proceedings against celebrity magazine Reveal over allegations that she was “jealous” of co-star Letitia Dean and had snubbed her on the set of the soap.

Wallace, 41, claims the story was “offensive” and damaging to her reputation as well as causing her “considerable hurt, distress and embarrassment” since it was published in August.

In a writ lodged with the High Court, lawyers for the actress are claiming damages not exceeding £50,000 from the Hearst company, which publishes Reveal.

Wallace first appeared as Kat Slater in the soap in 2000. She took a break in 2005 before returning in 2010. Dean, 45, was part of the original cast when EastEnders launched on BBC1 in 1985 and returned to the soap in August this year for her third stint as Sharon Watts, now known by her married name Rickman.

Wallace’s lawyers and agent declined to comment further on the legal proceedings. A spokesman for Hearst also declined to comment.

Following publication of the article, Dean told gossip website Digital Spy: “Any suggestions that Jessie and I don’t get on are completely untrue.”

A date has not yet been set for the libel hearing.

Wallace was given six months off the soap last year after calling off her marriage to fiancé Vince Morse on the morning of the wedding when she discovered he had sent intimate pictures of her to his ex-girlfriend.

She is dating musician Tim Arnold, 37, the son of former EastEnders actress Polly Perkins.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in