Amanda Grey appeared on Michael McIntyre’s Big Show on Saturday night, where the comedian revealed he had drilled a hole through her wall to broadcast a completely different version of EastEnders while the rest of the country watched the real thing.
The elaborate prank saw Amanda’s sofa, dressing gown, ornaments, Bon Jovi CD and even her dog Floki appear in a specially-written episode titled “Where is Amanda?” – but she failed to spot her own son making a cameo appearance in the Queen Vic.
Amanda, who has watched EastEnders since it first aired in 1985, told the BBC the prank was “the best surprise ever” after McIntyre himself turned up on her doorstep alongside Gillian Taylforth, the actress who plays her favourite character Kathy Beale.
The chicken choking incident
Before revealing the prank, McIntyre asked Amanda to share a story that demonstrated just how devoted she is to the BBC soap.
Amanda explained that during a particularly upsetting episode when character Lucy Beale died, she was eating fried chicken whilst watching and became so emotional that she started crying and sobbing.
“It was very harrowing, Michael,” she said. “So I took a deep breath in because I was crying, and I choked on the chicken. My daughter had to ring an ambulance, my husband had to give the Heimlich manoeuvre to me, and the chicken shot out. Of course, I’m still here, but Lucy Beale was still dead.”
McIntyre joked:
“Well, let’s all make a mental note of that story.”
Breaking into Amanda’s home
The prank began when McIntyre climbed Amanda’s fence, broke into her house and handpicked items to send to Albert Square whilst she was away.
Amanda’s daughter Sophie was in on the secret and helped ensure everything was put back in place before her mother returned home.
“Apparently everything was put back but they took a big clock off the wall and she couldn’t get that back on to sit properly,” Amanda said.
Thankfully, after enlisting other family members to help, Sophie managed to get away with it and Amanda didn’t notice a thing.
The fake episode
A few weeks later, on what Amanda thought was a normal Wednesday evening, she sat down to watch EastEnders with her family whilst secret cameras filmed her reaction from next door.
The specially-written episode featured a storyline about Kathy Beale receiving a threatening letter from a credit controller called Amanda, with various items from the Swansea home appearing throughout.
As the episode progressed, Amanda began to notice familiar objects. “Did you just see that?” she asked her family, spotting her dressing gown, a world flags book and eventually her sofa.
The fake episode even paid tribute to Amanda’s chicken choking story, with Gillian Taylforth’s character choking when hearing about Lucy Beale’s death.
Amanda queried:
“Does anyone think this is a weird EastEnders? Who wrote this episode?”
However, she failed to hear her husband Mark’s voice on a phone call with Kathy Beale, or spot her son’s walk-on cameo at the Queen Vic – though she did recognise her dog Floki.
McIntyre himself made an appearance in the fake episode, listing traditionally Welsh items before asking a taxi to take him to Swansea.
“Something’s going on,” Amanda declared.
The big reveal
Moments later, McIntyre knocked on Amanda’s door with Gillian Taylforth by his side, as the iconic EastEnders theme tune played.
“I can’t believe Gillian Taylforth’s in my house. Michael McIntyre’s in my house,” Amanda said.
The comedian revealed: “Amanda, we made that EastEnders just for you. I spent the day at Walford. The only bad news is you’ve actually missed EastEnders, so you’ll have to catch up.”
Amanda and her family then travelled to London to appear on the Big Show, where she told McIntyre:
“It was real, I just could not believe that was going on and had my things on there. And I was like, ‘this is really weird.’
“I cannot believe you took the sofa, and I noticed the sofa and I didn’t notice my own son in the Queen Vic.”
McIntyre ended the segment by saying:
“You’ve been an amazing sport, and it was worth it ultimately, because you met Kathy. She came to your house Gillian, all the way to Swansea.”
Amanda added:
“She was in my house. She was amazing, and she’s so lovely.”
The EastEnders star presented Amanda with a framed script from her special episode, signed by Taylforth herself.
Still in shock
Reflecting on the experience, Amanda said:
“I was like, ‘did that actually just happen?’ I think I was walking around in like a stunned, surprised trance if you like for about three weeks.”
She joked that the famous EastEnders theme song now makes her have a “little panic attack” at the thought of it happening again.
“I’m so honoured to be part of it because they don’t do it very often,” she said.
The episode of Michael McIntyre’s Big Show aired on BBC One on Saturday, February 21, and is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
