Jessie Wallace rejected the idea of Zoe Slater being recast because she felt EastEnders fans would be “completely conned”.
Jessie Wallace did not want Zoe Slater to be recast
The 53-year-old actress declared she “wouldn’t be able to give my best performance” as Zoe’s mum Kat Moon if Michelle Ryan‘s alter ego had been replaced by another performer in the hit BBC One soap.
However, EastEnders’ Executive Producer Ben Wadey, 31, managed to convince Michelle, 41, to reprise her character, and she made a Walford comeback in an episode aired on June 16 – her first since June 2005.
Jessie told the new issue of Radio Times magazine: “I said to Ben: ‘It has to be Michelle. It won’t feel right if Zoe is recast.’
“I wouldn’t be able to give my best performance. The audience would feel completely conned.”
Michelle – whose character left Walford for Ibiza, Spain, in 2005 to distance herself from the murder of Den Watts (Leslie Grantham), which was committed by Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman) – had been asked to return to EastEnders in the past, but the timing was not right until now.
She explained: “In the past, the timing just wasn’t right. I didn’t feel a need to do it and, for me, there always has to be a need.
“This time, I surprised myself with how open I was to it.”
Michelle – who joined the soap in 2000 – left EastEnders in 2005, aged 21, because she felt “done at five years”, and Michelle decided to “jump” onto other projects instead of “doing the same sorts of storylines”.
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