Call the Midwife and Granchester star Kacey Ainsworth tells Soaplife that a return to EastEnders is a real possibility!
How was guest-starring in the Call The Midwife Christmas special?
"Wonderful. It was amazing to be involved in something that so many people enjoy. I don't really like watching myself, but it helps when there's a distance between making something and then seeing yourself in it. There was quite a time lapse between filming the Christmas episode and it going out – in fact it was the height of summer when we made it."
What's next for you?
"Grantchester, the ITV vicar-and-detective whodunit series set in 1950s Cambridgeshire, which I was in with James Norton and Robson Green. I played Robson's wife, Cathy, and it's just been re-commissioned for a second series. I'm very excited about that - it's a lovely job in a lovely place with lovely people. We start shooting in February and it will go out later in 2015."
We'd love it if Little Mo returned to EastEnders. Is that completely out of the question?
"The door's always open which is so nice. They're very lovely at EastEnders and it's a two-way street… If the timing was right for both me and them, who knows?"
Are you still in touch with anyone there?
"It's almost nine years since I left and seems even longer than that. But as I was there for so long, I naturally built close, long-lasting friendships. EastEnders will always be very special to me. I still watch it when I can. I love all the soaps."
Do you ever regret leaving?
"I had a career before EastEnders and I'm having a career after it. I found working at such a pace impossible with two young children. I left in 2006 because I felt like I wasn't seeing my little daughter, Blossom, enough. I tried to combine it all but I failed. I felt I needed to be at home more with her and that didn't fit in with the show."
So it was the right decision?
"It was definitely the right decision for me and has continued to be so. I've loved my time at home over the past five years, although I did do a theatre show once a year to keep my hand in. But now Blossom and my son, Woody, are both at full-time school and I’m enjoying working on TV again."
Does still being associated with Little Mo ever get on your nerves?
"Not at all. It's not something I'm embarrassed about. I always had nice feedback from it. As an actor you have to say that if you have one character in your whole career that sticks in people's minds, then you've probably done an amazing job."
EastEnders, BBC1. Click here for dates and times.
