A GLOBAL pop star has revealed they were just weeks away from having a very different celebrity career.
Emma Bunton is best known as Baby Spice from the 90s mega girl group, The Spice Girls, but she very nearly bagged herself a role in soap land that could have changed the course of pop history.
Emma rose to stardom as part of the Spice Girls but auditioned for the part of Bianca in Eastenders[/caption]
Producers decided to go with Patsy Palmer instead[/caption]
Emma had previously appeared as a mugger on the Walford based soap[/caption]
The Wannabe icon had always wanted to be on stage and screen but before singing became her passion, Emma pursued an acting career.
Keen to one day become a household name, Emma joined the prestigious Sylvia Young Theatre School.
She had some success and managed to land a minor role in the ITV police drama The Bill in 1993 and she was cast as a prostitute in the BBC drama To Play the King.
But it was Albert Square that almost gave Emma the big break that she’d been hoping for.
Back in 1992 the Heart Radio presenter had appeared briefly in Walford as a criminal, attempting to mug pensioner Jules.
Producers were keen to see more of Emma though, and they invited her to audition for a new character they were going to introduce called Bianca.
Emma tried out, got through the initial screenings and down to the last four hopefuls for the soon to be legendary part.
It wasn’t meant to be though and BBC bosses decided Patsy Palmer would be better suited to play the fiery market trader.
This fateful rejection left the door open to other opportunities and it was only a few weeks later when Emma was asked to sing for the managers of a new girl group.
She said in an interview with Guardian Guide back in 2019, which was then reprinted in journalist Michael Cragg’s book Reach For The Stars: “I’d just missed out on playing Bianca in EastEnders. I was down to the last four.
“So I’d just found out about that and I was devastated. I was at college and a singing teacher asked if I’d ever thought of being in a band.
“She said, ‘Well I’m working with some girls and one of them wants to go back to uni so they’re looking for another girl’.
“She told me to go and meet these two managers, I sang for them and they asked me when I could move in with the girls.”
These were, of course, the Spice Girls and Emma was catapulted into global stardom as part of one of the most successful pop groups of all time.
EastEnders’ 40th anniversary cameos so far
With the 40th anniversary of EastEnders coming up, fans are looking forward to some more incredible cameos from iconic faces of Walford’s past. But who have we had so far?
Tracy-Ann Oberman – Oberman returned as Chrissie Watts, a character she last played nearly two decades ago.
Paul Bradley – Bradley returned as Nigel Bates, a character he last played over 25 years ago.
Micheal French – French returned as David Wicks, a character he last played two decades ago.
Patsy Palmer – Palmer returned as Bianca Jackson, a character she last played in 2019.
Coming up this year…
Ross Kemp – Kemp will reprise his role as Grant Mitchell, a character he first played in 1990. The BBC has described Kemp’s storyline as “explosive”. Kemp said it was an “absolute honour” to return to the show.
Other aspects of the 40th anniversary celebration include: A wedding between fan favorites, A huge explosion at the Queen Vic, and A live interactive episode.
Next year will mark the 30th anniversary of the group’s debut single, Wannabe, and The Sun recently revealed that plans for a landmark Netflix drama of their story has been put into jeopardy.
The streamer has failed to get every member of the group on board with the project but it seems that they have now decided to go ahead with, or without them.
Netflix are working on a drama telling the story of the iconic group[/caption]
