EastEnders star Jessie Wallace has revealed the one request she had ahead of Zoe Slater’s return to the soap.
It was announced earlier this year that Michelle Ryan would reprise her role as the iconic character after a 20-year absence, with the actor making her comeback on the BBC soap in June.
Though Zoe is yet to come face-to-face with her mother Kat, the highly-anticipated moment is set to come in the near future.
Speaking to to RadioTimes, Wallace, who plays Kat, said she had one special request for executive producer Ben Wadey when she was informed of Zoe’s return.
“I said to Ben, ‘It has to be Michelle. It won’t feel right if Zoe is recast,'” Wallace recalled . “I wouldn’t be able to give it my best performance. The audience would feel completely conned.”
Wallace, who added that she was “protective” of the co-star that she “loved”, also recalled the moment she tearfully met with Ryan for the first time in two decades, describing it as “very emotional”, “nostalgic” and “lovely”.
Ryan also paid tribute to Wallace as she described her co-star as “one of the best actresses” that she had worked with, adding: “The rapport we have and our friendship off-screen as well, it all just feeds into that mother-daughter bond.
“On set, it’s like having someone in your corner all the time and knowing that I’ll be fine. I can just talk to Jessie. We have a shorthand, and we have a similar kind of view on the characters and their journeys.”
While Wallace and Ryan will see their characters come face-to-face, one figure who won’t be seen in Albert Square any time soon is Karen Taylor, with actor Lorraine Stanley recently confirming she held no immediate plans to reprise her role.
“They didn’t kill me off. But right now, I wouldn’t [return],” said the actor. “I’m enjoying [spending time with my daughter] Nancy. On EastEnders, I missed a lot of milestones. Now I’m like her personal taxi driver for skateboarding, piano lessons – and I love it.”
