EastEnders couple Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace may be taking a break from the soap, but they are not taking a break from each other after signing up to play a married couple on stage.
The pair, who play Alfie and Kat Moon in the hit BBC soap, will appear in a touring production of The Perfect Murder by best-selling crime writer Peter James.
They play couple Victor and Joan Smiley, whose marriage is murder, in the show which will be the first time they have appeared on stage together.
Jessie said: “As soon as I read the script, I knew I had to do it. Watch out because sparks are going to fly and it’s the perfect murder.”
Author Peter said the casting was a “dream come true”.
He said: “Shane has been a fan of my books for a while, as I have been of Shane.
“He and Jessie have been loved on television by huge audiences over a number of years, which just goes to show how great they are together and I can’t wait to see Shane and Jessie planning to murder each other on stage every night.”
The pair, who left Walford temporarily to star in their own spin-off series, will be seen on TV again when their characters visit Ireland to put their rocky past behind them in a six-part drama.
The stage show opens in Cheltenham in February 2016, before moving to theatres across the country including Newcastle, Edinburgh and Brighton.
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