In a move which some will say was inevitable, the 'EastEnders' star Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale, has changed his name to Ian Beale.
Woodyatt, or 'Beale', has played 'Ian' since the show was first aired in 1985, and has come to think of himself more as Ian Beale, and less as Adam Woodyatt. Now, 50, Beale has been playing himself for 33 years, and feels that he now has more in common with Ian than with Adam.
Ian has had a turbulent history in the soap. He has been married five times to four women, and has had countless disasters concerning his domestic relationships, children, neighbours and businesses. He's had a consistently-poor relationship with ex-stepdad Phil Mitchell, and holds the record for having 'a head shoved down a toilet, and it then being flushed'. He usually manages to survive his disasters, often by sly and underhand means, causing some members of the British press to refer to him as 'Weasel Woodyatt'. His namechange will put a stop to that.
Beale has said recently that he has no intention of leaving 'EastEnders', because nobody else would employ him.