Blue's Lee Ryan relieved at positive reaction to his EastEnders debut

EastEnders newcomer Lee Ryan said he was touched by the overall positive reaction to his debut in the soap, but admitted he had “no fingernails left” after nervously watching himself.

Blue star Lee made his first appearance in the BBC programme in Tuesday night’s episode as Woody Woodward, who has come to take over the running of the Queen Vic pub in the absence of landlord Mick Carter (Danny Dyer).

While he received a frosty welcome from EastEnders residents, including Shirley Carter (Linda Henry), viewers largely expressed their delight over his arrival.

Lee told This Morning’s Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes that he had watched the broadcast, adding: “I had no fingernails left, I was really nervous.

“But it was actually really lovely. I don’t normally go online and look at everything because people can have their opinions – and they’re entitled to them – so I just normally stay away from that.

“But people were sending me snaps of what people were saying online, and some articles were really, really positive.

“I couldn’t really believe that.”

Fans had praised singer and actor Lee’s stint highly, with his former Blue bandmate Simon Webbe joining in the congratulations.

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Lee also spoke of filming scenes with Danny after he returned from a brief time away from the soap.

He said: “The whole cast are great, I love them, but I was really looking forward to working with Danny – we’ve got some great scenes and there was only a short time we got to act with each other. I can’t say too much.”

He added: “So when he came back, I said to him I was really excited to work with him.

“When he turned up on the day he went ‘Bosh that, bosh that, we’re gonna do this and gonna do that’.”

Of his character Woody, Lee said he is not really a bad boy, adding: “He’s more sensitive, actually. He just wants to be liked.”