EastEnders stars run London Marathon in character for brain tumour storyline

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy EastEnders actors Jamie Borthwick and Emma Barton are running the London Marathon in character as part of a brain tumour storyline. “We just really tried to make it as real as we could and our lovely boss dropped the idea to us that maybe our characters would run the marathon.” Barton added: “I think it’s a really clever idea that EastEnders have done to show what a lot of the people all over the country are doing. This has never been done before in soap history.” The actress added that it is very “daunting” and said: “Really we’re relying on all the people that are gonna come to London and just cheer us on and that’s gonna just get us through and we’re gonna love it.” Presenter JJ Chalmers spoke to the duo at the 12-mile point. “It’s such a great day, and everyone’s screaming and shouting and it’s brilliant.” Asked if they were ready for their EastEnders scene, Barton said: “We just have to treat it like any other scene of EastEnders, professionally, we’re gonna get it done and then we can relax for the last half.” Last year the long-running BBC soap dominated the Inside Soap Awards, taking home six gongs out of a possible 15 and Harold took home best actress for her performance as Lola while Borthwick was awarded best actor and Max Bowden secured soap superstar of 2023.