Stacey Dooley has hit back on Twitter after being slammed by Thunder Girls author Melanie Blake over her hosting skills.
Manchester-raised writer Melanie had her say over TV journalist Stacey's presenting of the show EastEnders: Secrets From The Square, a behind-the-scenes spin-off series about the BBC One soap.
She criticised Strictly Come Dancing winner and documentary maker Stacey for asking who the late EastEnders co-creator and producer Julia Smith was. She also said the presenter had 'not even researched' the long-running soap during an interview with Walford icons Adam Woodyatt and Letitia Dean, who play Ian Beale and Sharon Mitchell in the soap.
Music manager turned author Melanie wrote to her followers: “And Stacey Dooley not even knowing who Julia Smith - who co-created #Eastenders was. "Not even researching the show you're presenting is one thing, not even bothering to read the research material someone else has probably handed to you is another - terrible.”
But Stacey defended herself, saying she had known who Julia was and she'd been directed to ask the question.
“I did know who Julia was Melanie," she hit back.
“The director (quite rightly) asked me to pick it up, as you can't assume everyone watching knows this.
“It’s my job to ask the questions, not display my in-depth knowledge of a soap opera.
She added “ta for your feedback tho” with blowing kiss emojis.
The Twitter drama continued when Melanie told her: "Well then the edit made it look like you didn’t know - happy to give you the feedback - it came across on screen really badly - so there we are."
Stacey shared her critique with the words 'Twitter 2020.'
And Melanie retorted with 'Salty much @StaceyDooley."
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