EastEnders star Natalie Cassidy has opened up about the reason for the success of her character Sonia Fowler, as she prepares to bow out of the BBC1 soap.
Natalie, who made her EastEnders debut back in 1993, aged just 10, announced last month that she had decided to pack away Sonia’s famous trumpet to “explore pastures new.”
It’s believed Sonia will leave Walford as part of EastEnders’ 40th anniversary celebrations next week. Show bosses have revealed that the pregnant nurse is caught up in an explosion that tears through The Queen Vic, and will subsequently go into labour. Whether Sonia lives to tell the tale, however, remains to be seen.
Reflecting on the popularity of her fictional alter-ego, Natalie says, “I think the trumpet put her on the map. But she has stood the test of time because she’s real.
“She’s not murdered anyone - yet - and she’s not really been involved in any of those big, sensational storylines, as brilliant as they are.
“I like to call her the fabric. She’s the curtains, she’s the old wallpaper. You turn on the show and you know what you’re watching and you know what you’re going to get. I think you need those safe, family characters.
“And you can’t write or pretend or buy history. With soap, you’ve got to have people you’ve grown up with.
“Starting as a child and growing up on it, people have grown up with me, and I think it’s just that lovely nostalgia that people enjoy.”
Sonia has been part of some huge EastEnders storylines over the years, with her most memorable plots including giving birth to daughter Bex (initially named Chloe) aged 15, and being wrongly arrested for murdering Pauline Fowler.
She is currently dealing with the aftermath of her discovery that fiancé Reiss Colwell murdered his wife Debbie - a crime she was wrongly charged with and imprisoned for.
Following her EastEnders exit, it won’t be too long before Natalie is back on screens, as she is to front a forthcoming C4 consumer show, What’s The Big Deal?
“It’s a look at all the different gadgets that we buy,” she reveals.
“It’s got science behind it, but I add a bit of a laugh to it. I’m jumping in an ice cold bath at one point and getting my feet out and saying I look like I'm from Lord of the Rings - so hopefully it’ll be a bit funny rather than just being boring science.”
The actress can also be seen making a guest appearance in the second series of comedy-drama Boarders (on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer), playing “eccentric maths teacher” Sharon Hail.
Meanwhile, fans can catch her on two podcasts - Life With Nat, which she hosts with long-term partner Marc Humphreys, and Off The Telly, in which she joins forces with Gavin & Stacey star Joanna Page.
“I really enjoy being myself as well as acting,” Natalie adds. “In those eight years that I had off from EastEnders when I was 22, I did Celebrity Big Brother and bits and pieces, and I had that sort of household name, so it’s lovely that people know me as Natalie Cassidy as well as Sonia.
“It’s lovely to have that option, and I’ve always kept my hand in. I did a cameo in Motherland and a cameo in Mandy, so I like doing those little bits.
“I think it’s important for your career and your whole life to keep all your options open, really.”
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One. You can also watch episodes early when they are released at 6am on BBC iPlayer.
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