EastEnders icon Adam Woodyatt has revealed that one complaint landed him in hot water with bosses on the popular BBC soap.

During a chat with The Nightcap podcast, Adam, who has played Ian Beale since the show’s maiden episode in February 1985, shared how he once found himself on the wrong side of his bosses: “I’ve got in so much trouble over the years for slagging-off the food at work.”

Recalling one specific incident, the EastEnders star shared: “There was one year, and I’ve still got the photo on my phone, and we were filming Bradley’s funeral, there was snow on the ground, it was a really bad filming day and we were all in these trailers in the cemetery.”

He added: “There’s snow on the ground and the caterers were having problems, the gas had frozen, so they were struggling and I remember going and getting Bab’s (Barbara Windsor, who played Peggy Mitchell) and Pat’s (Pat Butcher, played by Pam St Clement).”

Ian and his castmates were filming Bradley Branning’s funeral, who was killed off in EastEnders’ live 25th anniversary episode in February 2010. However, much to his misery, the only food on offer was a stew that he simply described as “gruel” and even claimed that he “didn’t recognise it as any form of meat”.

Deciding to take a picture of his less than impressive lunch, he got on the wrong side of BBC executives after he posted the image online besides a cheekily worded caption.

Marking his 40th anniversary on the beloved soap, Adam was first cast to play Ian Beale back in 1985, but he took a less than conventional path to get to that point after having left acting to become a butcher, when he left school, only then to later return to the profession when EastEnders offered him a role.

Meanwhile, now nearly four decades since first stepping foot on Albert Square, his character has been part of some of the show’s biggest storylines.

One of the show’s biggest storylines of late saw Ian in the thick of the action as he was nearly shot by his ex-wife, Cindy, who had accused him of attacking her with a shovel during tense scenes broadcast last December.

But despite Kathy Beale revealing that it was her who had whacked Cindy, Ian was shot in the shoulder as he rushed for Cindy’s gun.

Besides playing Ian Beale in EastEnders, Adam has also ventured out into the world of reality TV in recent years, competing in the likes of Dancing On Ice, Celebrity MasterChef, as well as a sixth placed finish in 2021’s I’m A Celebrity.

He’s also appeared on stage down the years, featuring in Aladdin, Cinderella, Oliver and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Adam will be back on our screens this morning (Saturday, April 26) as he is set to appear on Saturday Kitchen Live at 10am on BBC Two.