Jo Joyner (born 24 May 1978 ) is an award winning English actress who is best known for her role as Tanya Branning in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, in which she has appeared since June 2006.


Since arriving on EastEnders in 2006, Jo as Tanya Branning has been at the heart of the action in Albert Square and has had a wide scope of storylines; the episode in which the character of Tanya discovered her husband Max Branning's affair with Stacey Slater was watched by 14.3 million people. It was the highest television broadcast of 2007 and went on to be nominated for a BAFTA Award and Jo, the storyline and the episode were awarded at the 2008 British Soap Awards.

Before starring in EastEnders, her most noted role was as Beth Nicholls in the popular nursing drama No Angels. She had also starred as Lynda Moss, in two episodes of Doctor Who ("Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of the Ways", BBC One, June 2005).

Joyner has also appeared in the feature-length drama Night Flight, and on television in Fat Friends, Silent Witness, Clocking Off, the 2004 BBC adaptation of North and South and as one of the stars of the Five comedy sketch show Swinging (2005–date). For her performances in the latter Joyner won a Rose d'Or international award for 'Best Female Comedy Performer' in 2006 beating, among others, popular British comedienne Catherine Tate.

She also featured briefly in a sub-plot of the two-part drama The Second Coming (ITV1, 2003). Her character has a bigger role in cut scenes that feature as extras on the DVD. Also in 2003, Joyner appeared in Series Two, Episode Five of Spooks, as a firefighter named Stephanie Mills[1].

After taking "A" levels at Stratford Upon Avon College Jo took a degree in English Literature and Theatre Studies at the Welsh College of Music and Drama, a department of Cardiff University and home to the Welsh National Opera. She graduated with a BA Hons and the year Prize for Acting. Joyner played 'Lex', a violent girl gang member in the award winning play 'Raw' by Chris O'Connell, produced by Theatre Absolute at the Edinburgh Festival in 2001 and in the subsequent National Tour. She also played a male role in Brendan Behan's play The Hostage and in The One With the Oven, at the Royal Court Theatre.

Since appearing on television in acting roles Jo has made a variety of guest appearances on shows including GMTV, This Morning, Big Brother's Little Brother, The Graham Norton Show and Loose Women.

She also participated in the 2007 Children In Need appeal where she sang alongside the rest of the EastEnders cast.

Joyner was born in Essex but grew up in the Midlands. Her parents are Anne and Peter, and she has an older brother, Dan. Joyner lives with her husband, actor Neil Madden. They married on 14 July 2007 and currently share a home in [London]. Her height is 5'2". In 2008 she told internet users that she had no Facebook, MySpace or Bebo account when it was revealed several people were posing as her online and spreading false information about her.

She remains good friends with all her former No Angels cast mates and is close with Jake Wood, Scott Maslen, Robert Kazinsky, Laurie Brett, Madeline Duggan, and Lorna Fitzgerald from EastEnders.



Filmography

* EastEnders (2006- )

* No Angels (2004-2006)

* Doctor Who (2005)

* Swinging (2005)

* Fat Friends (2004)

* Silent Witness (2004-2005)

* Clocking Off (2003)

* North and South (2004)

* The Second Coming (2003)

* Spooks (2002)

* The Hostage (2002)

* The One With The Oven (2002)