She left the soap in 2010
Former EastEnders star Molly Conlin has admitted she is “very upset” after finding out the role of Dotty Cotton has gone to another actress.
The BBC1 soap announced this week that they are bringing back Dot’s evil granddaughter Dotty, but instead of having the original actress reprise the role, they opted to recast.
Speaking to The Sun, Molly admitted she was approached by show bosses, but only to explain the bad news to her.
“They did approach me, unfortunately they wanted the new Dotty to go back and appear a lot older and be played by someone in their 20s,” Molly said.
"Of course I would have loved to have returned to EastEnders, but I believe everything happens for a reason."
The role will be played by actress Milly Zero, who is best known for playing Hannah in CBBC’s All at Sea, and will be seen on screen for the first time this autumn.
Revealing her excitement over her new role, Milly said: “I am honestly so excited to be playing Dotty Cotton and joining the E20 family. Especially playing alongside June Brown, who I have been watching on my telly since I was a young girl.
“Her and Dotty have such an interesting relationship to explore with a complicated history, so I can’t wait to see what the future holds for them. It all feels very surreal and I am buzzing already!”
On Friday, EastEnders announced that Dot Cotton’s troublesome granddaughter is making a surprise return to the Square after nearly a decade away.
The last time viewers saw Dotty in Walford she proved that the apple never falls far from the tree when she agreed to join her dad in an evil plot to kill Dot.
Thankfully for EastEnders fans Dotty’s conscience got the better of her before they could go through with their wicked plan, and she double crossed her nasty dad at the last minute, leading him to flee Walford.
Despite the fact Nick had told everyone that Dotty’s mum had died, that soon turned out to be yet another of the villain’s lies when Dot got a visit from Sandy, Dotty’s mother.
After Dotty reunited with her mum the pair headed off to America to start a new life back in 2010… and most recently viewers have learnt that Dotty is now living in Wales with her mum, with Dot regularly visiting her granddaughter.
EastEnders airs Monday and Friday at 8pm and Tuesday and Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One.
