Advertisement

Samantha Womack says she couldn't do soap again because she 'ends up arguing and getting sacked'

Samantha Womack says she prefers working in the theatre to TV roles these days. (David M. Benett/Getty Images)
Samantha Womack says she prefers working in the theatre to TV roles these days. (David M. Benett/Getty Images)

Former EastEnders star Samantha Womack doesn't see herself ever returning to the daily grind of being part of a telly soap.

Womack walked the streets of Albert Square as Ronnie Mitchell for a decade before she was killed off alongside sister Roxy in 2017.

Read more: Samantha Womack rumbled Masked Singer secret straight away

But now she says that she much prefers taking on stage roles to working on a TV soap.

"I always fall out with everyone in television," the 49-year-old actor told the Daily Star.

She added: "Someone is always telling you what to do with your character. I just get really irritated and I end up arguing and then getting sacked."

Watch: Samantha Womack defends former EastEnders boss

Womack said one of the key draws for her of working in the theatre is that the hours suit her far better than the early starts required to shoot a TV show.

"I am awful first thing in the morning, I can’t function," she said. "They say people are either night or morning people – well I will happily sit up ‘til four or five am. But when you’re on a soap you have to get up at five."

Read more: EastEnders star Tamzin Outhwaite talks about baby loss

Womack said she wouldn't want to return to EastEnders even if it were possible for her character to come back from the dead, saying she appreciates the "creative control" of stage jobs.

She added: "In your 20s, you’re just grateful, but now I really love my job and I hate losing control over how a story is told.”

Roxy and Ronnie Mitchell were both killed off in a swimming pool on Ronnie's wedding day in 2017. (BBC)
Roxy and Ronnie Mitchell were both killed off in a swimming pool on Ronnie's wedding day in 2017. (BBC)

Ronnie Mitchell was introduced along with sister Roxy in 2007 as part of an attempt to create a new generation of Mitchells — arguably the soap's most memorable family.

She was involved in numerous huge storylines throughout her decade on the show, including the controversial baby swap plot, in which Ronnie was shown stealing Kat Moon's baby after the death of her own child.

Read more: Here's what's coming next week on EastEnders

The storyline was ultimately brought to a premature end after thousands of viewers complained to Ofcom, though the show was cleared of any wrongdoing by the regulator.

Watch: Looking ahead to EastEnders