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An EastEnders star is set to make a surprise return to the BBC soap after leaving earlier this year.
Michelle Collins, 62, who first played Cindy Beale in the much-loved series in 1988, made a surprise return in 2023 after her character was supposedly killed off during childbirth 25 years earlier.
Cindy was central to one of this year’s biggest storylines after setting off an explosion in the Queen Vic as part of the soap’s 40th anniversary in February.
The character left the soap shortly after – but is now set to return after two months with “life-changing news” for the Beale family, according to the Daily Mail.
Cindy’s return to EastEnders will follow her attempt to kill her husband Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) by pushing him in front of a car.
In scenes that aired in February, Ian swerved into the pub, inadvertently starting the Queen Vic blaze that caused the death of Martin Fowler (James Bye).
When Ian eventually discovered what Cindy did, he said he would report her to the police and implicate her in the pub explosion if she didn’t leave Albert Square.
Collins stepped back from the show earlier this year to focus on a new production, making her debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as the lead in the one-woman comedy show Motorhome Marilyn.
The British actor will star in the play as wannabe actress Ruthie Richards, who is left working as a Marilyn Monroe impersonator after a failed attempt to make it in Hollywood.
Motorhome Marilyn was written by Ben Weatherill and directed by Alexandra Spencer Jones – but is based on an idea by Collins. She will perform at the Gilded Balloon Patter House in Edinburgh from 30 July to 25 August at 5.30pm each day this summer.
Collins’ bombshell return, which followed her supposed offscreen death in 1998, was praised by fans, although the actor herself called the plot twist “ridiculous”.
She admitted she wasn’t sure whether she should return to the soap, saying: “You want to know that you’ve made the right decision. I don’t know whether I have... But I’m liking it and I’m loving being back, actually. It feels like I’ve come full circle.”
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