EastEnders is currently undergoing some changes, with several of the show’s stars being written out of major plotlines.
Fans have been hit hard, no doubt, but Natalie Cassidy, a long-time soap star, has reminded us that it’s all part of the genre’s nature.
‘It’s soap,’ she told Metro.co.uk on the red carpet of the British Soap Awards. ‘It’s what happens.
‘To get good stories, you need people to exit and you need people to come in. It’s just the way of the show.
‘Exits and entrance is a part of soaps. So it just is what it is.’
That said, she is keen for her popular alter ego Sonia Fowler to stay a part of the cast.
She told us that Sonia is ‘part of the fabric of the show’ and that she hopes ‘she will always stick around.’
And she will be sticking around in a show that the actress is very happy to be a part of at the moment.
‘I’m so excited!’ the actress enthused. ‘[New boss] Chris [Clenshaw] is a wonderful addition.
‘He’s been with us before, he’s very passionate about the show, he loved it inside and out, seriously.
‘So for me I just always want someone who loves the show as much as I do. It’s just lovely to be in a place where we’re starting afresh.
‘I’ve watched the show go through many different sets and different times and this is just another one and I’m really excited.’
And while the soap is losing some faces, there is new blood coming in.
Natalie added: ‘It’s all very exciting. I’ve seen it for a lot of years and I’m just looking forward to another wonderful chapter.’
Along with Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold), characters Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ), Dana Monroe (Barbara Smith), Peter Beale (Dayle Hudson) and Jada Lennox (Kelsey Calladine-Smith) are being written out of the soap.