MAISIE Smith might have left Walford, but her mum Julie is filling her shoes on Albert Square.
Pictures emerged this week of the mother-of-two filling in as an extra on EastEnders – and fans were quick to notice the similarity between the two redheads.
Julie was filming in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, appearing in the background of scenes featuring Jean Slater, played by Gillian Wright, who was pictured wearing a wedding dress.
Maisie joined the soap as Tiffany Butcher when she was just six years old, in 2008. She left after 13 years and appeared on Strictly in 2020, as well as the subsequent live tour.
She was most recently unmasked on the live tour of The Masked Singer, in which she wore a blue dinosaur costume.
Maisie and her mum aren’t the only relatives to appear on the same soap. Here we take a look at the other family dramas.
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Hannah Waterman and Patricia Maynard
Hannah, daughter of Minder star Dennis Waterman, starred in EastEnders in the Noughties as Laura Beale, Ian Beale’s third wife.
She began in 2000 as a nanny to his twins, Peter and Lucy, before falling for the hapless chippie owner.
Her character died in 2004 after rowing with Janine Butcher, tripping over a toy and breaking her neck.
Hannah’s mum Patricia played Laura’s mum, Edwina, for two episodes in May 2001.
Patricia has also appeared in Casualty, Emmerdale, Minder, Corrie, Holby City and more.
Hannah’s step-mum is another famous actor (and Corrie star) Rula Lenska – famous for her cringey cat roleplay with George Galloway on Celebrity Big Brother.
Rula played Audrey Roberts’ friend and Ken Barlow’s love interest, sassy Claudia Colby, on the Street until 2021.
Jacqueline Jossa and Megan Jossa
Jacqueline, 29, played feisty Lauren Branning from 2010 – when she was 18 years old – to 2018. She also had her own internet spin-off series, Lauren’s Diaries.
In 2019, Jac was crowned Queen of the Jungle after proving a huge hit with I’m A Celebrity viewers.
The mum-of-two is married to TOWIE star Dan Osborne.
Her cousin, Megan Jossa, actually made her mark on Albert Square before Jac.
She played Tiffany and Grant Mitchell’s daughter, Courtney, back in 2006.
Megan was 11 at the time. Her character moved to Portugal with Grant, but when she reappeared in 2016, she was played by a different actress.
Amy Walsh and Sally Walsh
New mum Amy Walsh started playing Tracy Metcalfe – now Tracy Shankley – on Emmerdale in 2014.
She left earlier this year when her character, who had a moving storyline about post-natal depression, left for a job in Nottingham.
As the family hail from Bradford, West Yorkshire, it’s just a short skip down the road to the Emmerdale set.
Her sister Sally Walsh was on the Yorkshire soap from 1997 to 2000, playing Marlon Dingle’s girlfriend Lyn Hutchinson.
She went on to appear in Corrie and played a midwife who delivered Sinead Tinker’s son Bertie.
The pair have an even more famous sister – Girls Aloud singer Kimberly Walsh.
Rebecca Ryan and Jack James Ryan
These siblings appear on Coronation Street together, playing bad boy Jacob Hay and Lydia Chambers.
Rebecca said the rest of the cast had no clue at first that her brother was already part of the Weatherfield crew, despite their social media being filled with pictures of them together.
She said: “When I joined, I’d be talking to people and say, ‘Oh yeah, my brother works here.’ They’d go, ‘Really, who’s your brother? What? Jack!’
“It’s a dream come true to be working on the show at the same time.”
Rebecca has been acting since she was 11 and is most famous for playing Debbie Gallagher in the Channel 4 series Shameless.
Jack said of his sister joining him on the cobbles: “I was so buzzing. She was my biggest inspiration growing up. I’m incredibly biased but I think she is a stunning actor.”
Richard Fleeshman and Sue Jenkins
Remember Corrie’s first goth, Craig Harris?
He was played by Richard Fleeshman, now 32, who went on to become a popstar, winning both Celebrity Stars in their Eyes and Soapstar Superstar and even supporting Elton John on tour.
He then pivoted to West End theatre, appearing in Ghost: The Musical and Urinetown, and is now starring in Legally Blonde.
Richard currently appears in a pair of gold hot pants in new ITV2 drama Deep Heat.
His mum, Sue Jenkins, is a stalwart of British telly and appeared on the cobbles between 1985 and 1988 as barmaid Gloria Todd.
In fact, Sue was pregnant with Richard while in Corrie.
Richard’s dad – Sue’s husband, David – is also an actor who most recently starred in Channel 5’s The Teacher.
Brooke Vincent and Ellie Leach
Brooke, 29, is a household name thanks to playing Coronation Street’s Sophie Webster for 15 years.
She left Weatherfield in 2019 to focus on being a full-time mum to her sons, Mexx, two, and Monroe, 11 months.
Her cousin Ellie Leach, 21, joined her on the soap in 2009, playing Faye Windass.
Ellie said it was a great comfort to already have a best friend in the cast to show her the ropes.
She said: “She would always look out for me, in life and at work. She always used to say, ‘If you ever have any problems, you can always come and talk to me.”
Greg Wood and Matt Milburn
Greg Wood, 42, joined Corrie in 2019, playing nasty loan shark Rick Neelan.
He has since followed another Corrie star, Michelle Keegan, to Sky comedy, Brassic.
His brother Matt Milburn has also featured on the soap since 2016, playing Weatherfield County footballer Tommy Oprington who makes regular visits to the cobbles as the local celeb.
He was part of a 2019 storyline to help Jack Webster cope with his disability – and again when Jack contracted sepsis.
And it’s not the first time the Manchester-born siblings have appeared in the same show; they were also in Hollyoaks.
Matt played student Joe Spencer from 2003 to 2006, when his character was killed in a fire at the pub.
Greg played gangster Trevor Royle, who was stabbed to death on his wedding day in 2016.
Matt has also been in Emmerdale, while Greg appeared in Brookside.
Sally Ann Matthews and Amanda Barrie
The pair shared the screen in the 1980s – not realising they were in fact related!
Sally Ann, 51, played Rovers’ landlady Jenny Bradley, while screen icon Amanda played Alma Baldwin from 1981 to 2001.
In fact, it was through a special 2018 ITV documentary, Coronation Street’s DNA Secrets, that they discovered they are cousins.
Several of the cast took DNA tests and Ancestry.com worked out their heritage.
Sally said: “Waiting for my Corrie cousin to come around the corner was torture – I was praying it was someone I liked! The joy when I saw it was Amanda was overwhelming.
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“I think we share a naughty, slightly bonkers streak.”
Amanda, 86, joked: “I am so relieved by the DNA – now I’m so old, you may have organs to spare.”
