EastEnders' Michelle Collins suffers awkward blunder as The One Show's Alex Jones steps in

The One Show's Alex Jones was forced to step in after a guest made an embarrassing mistake just moments into their conversation.

During Monday's (June 23) episode, Alex was joined by co-host Roman Kemp on the iconic sofa, where they interviewed various guests, including EastEnders legend Michelle Collins, who discussed her latest project ahead of her temporary departure from the BBC soap.

Michelle, 63, will make her Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut with a one-woman dark comedy called Motorhome Marilyn, written by Ben Weatherill and inspired by her own encounter with Motorhome Marilyn. The play follows Denise, a struggling actress fixated on Marilyn Monroe, as she pursues her Hollywood dreams in the 1980s.

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When Denise's aspirations are unfulfilled, she confronts the harsh realities. As Alex and Roman inquired about Michelle's new role, the conversation quickly took an awkward turn when the actress made an unexpected blunder.

The conversation kicked off with Roman asking: "Obviously doing a one woman show and doing the whole thing playing the character, is your home becoming a bit of a shrine to Marilyn Monroe?"

Michelle opened up about her intense Marilyn Monroe obsession, confessing: "Oh yes. My husband is like 'Michelle this is getting really silly now, it's getting unhealthy.' Everything down to my coffee cup is Marilyn. I mean everything. It's amazing how much stuff you can get and the collections out there are unreal."

Delving deeper into her life, Michelle expressed: "It's tough and I do kind of think 'why did I do this' because I'm filming at the same time and I'm rehearsing at the weekend.", reports Wales Online.

The conversation took a humorous turn when American actor Sean Hayes inquired: "So when does it start?" Michelle hesitated before saying: "Umm 29th of July?".

There was a light-hearted moment when Alex had to correct Michelle's mistake regarding dates as she comically interjected with a smile to the camera: "No. It's the 30th".

Laughter ensued as Michelle thanked her with a chuckle: "The 30th, thank you Alex. Don't come on the 29th."

Famed for her role as Cindy Beale in the beloved BBC soap EastEnders, Michelle made headlines after her dramatic return to the show in 2023, a notable 25 years since her departure when her character supposedly died in childbirth in 1998.

The plot twist that Cindy had been secretly living in Spain under witness protection shocked fans, and since her comeback to Walford, she's been stirring up a storm – most notably with her affair with Junior Knight coming out in the open during the Christmas period.

Since then, she's been assaulted by Kathy Beale, shot her husband Ian, and inadvertently started the fire at the Queen Vic, resulting in Martin Fowler's death. The actress is now preparing to exit the show once more as she embarks on a new stage role.

The One Show airs weekdays from 7pm on BBC One and iPlayer