Joe Swash has been causing chaos with his own Christmas pranks as part of Jammie Dodgers’ campaign to let loose and have some festive fun – but he’s also been the butt of a few himself
December has been a whirlwind for Joe Swash, from his daring EastEnders comeback to being the target of Stacey Solomon’s latest practical jokes.
The 42 year old former soap actor made a triumphant return to Albert Square as Mickey Miller for the show’s 40th anniversary, marking his first appearance in 13 years.
While he was busy saving Bridge Street Market on-screen, his wife Stacey was up to her own mischief at home.
Joe shared: “Just today, I woke up and my toenails were painted green and my fingernails painted yellow. I’ve been getting petrol, buying stuff and walking around with this luminous green nail polish on my hands.”
However, that pales in comparison to Stacey’s frozen pea prank. “She woke me up at half five in the morning, so I was shocked.”
“She’d stuck my hand in a bowl of water and chucked a load of peas all over me in bed. And the idea was to make it look like I had pee’d myself, but she just chucked a load of frozen peas on me”.
But the Dad isn’t one to shy away from a bit of fun himself. He’s been orchestrating hilarious Elf on the Shelf pranks with the kids, even using different sized Jammie Dodgers to convince them their biscuits had been shrunk by the naughty elves.
“I even got on my knees with shoes on them and pretended the elf had shrunk me too. The kids loved it! “.
Joe’s playful escapades align perfectly with Jammie Dodger’s campaign to inspire parents to encourage families to be mischievous this Christmas – to inspire them to act their shoesize and not their age.
And these are sentiments Joe and family appear to live by.
He said: “When the kids came into the kitchen in the morning, they were like, ‘oh my god, it’s shrunk. He shrunk the Jammie Dodgers’. Then I banged on the door and was on my knees with my shoes on my knees. ‘Yeah, oh my god, it’s shrunk me’! It was the perfect combination.”
And it’s not just at home that Joe is getting a little mischievous – his return to EastEnders involved him posing nude for a charity calendar organised by Mo and Kim. He said: “they asked me whether I wanted to go back to be one of these legendary characters to celebrate the 40th anniversary.
“I was just like, ‘oh yeah, I think I’ll do that’. It wasn’t until we got there, and I got the script and thought ‘oh, I’ve got to get naked!” he said.
He added: “I’ve never looked so dad-like in all my life, so it probably wasn’t a good time to get naked either.”
Fans are already rallying for Mickey Miller’s permanent return, and Joe confesses he’s considering it. “I love it there. I really enjoyed going back. And I think if it worked for my family and stuff like that, it would definitely be something that I’d have to consider strongly, because I have such fond memories of the place.”
