EastEnders favourite Kellie Bright has revealed a surprising career move away from the BBC soap.
The actress, 48, joined the show as Linda Carter in 2013, with her family taking over the Queen Vic pub.
Linda has been at the centre of a number of high-profile stories, from being raped by her brother-in-law Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo), her alcoholism and losing husband Mick (Danny Dyer) at sea.
More recently, she murdered Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters), and has been seen to support Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) through his mental health battle.
She’s also been convinced to dip back into the dating scene, with son Johnny (Charlie Suff) assuring her she could look for something more casual if she’s unable to forget the death of his father.
Now, away from her dramatic soap filming, Kellie has launched a craft club for adults, to inspire people to be more creative.
Meet Me at Mabel’s opens up in St Albans, Hertfordshire next month, which the star excitedly teased on Instagram today.
‘This is it…. Meet Me at Mabel’s has arrived!!!!’ she wrote.
‘A creativity and craft club for grown ups!! Based in St Albans, Hertfordshire. Something I have spent many years dreaming about… and here I am doing it!
‘As lots of you know I love making things! Crochet, sewing, knitting, absolutely anything and everything creative. I want the space to be a place of sanctuary for like minded folks.
‘A place to quieten a busy mind (my love of crafting definitely helps me to calm my own overactive brain) and somewhere that embraces what it is to be part of a community.’
She continued: ‘We lost so much of this during COVID and I want the studio to bring people back together to share their passions again.
‘Please follow @meetmeatmabels for updates. Website coming soon…. Launching officially in May!
‘It’s going to be everything I ever wanted it to be and more. I can’t wait to share it with you all. Have a really good crafternoon my friends.’
In the accompanying video, she described the venture as a ‘dream come true’, and showed her 310,000 fans a sneak peak at the studio space.
Her co-stars flocked to the comments to share their support, with Denise Fox actress Diane Parish writing: ‘Oooooooohhhhh!!!! DOLLY!!! I am bubbling with excitement! Yay! Congrats to @meetmeatmabels. Can’t wait to pop by and see for myself! Lush!’
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Navin Chowdhry, who bowed out of his Nish Panesar role at the beginning of this year added two heart emojis, whilst Janine Butcher icon Charlie Brooks said: ‘Oh this is just excellent.’
Aaron Thiara, better known as ‘Enders hard man Ravi Gulati wrote: ‘Absolutely wonderful.’
Kellie is well known for crafting, having sparked fear amongst soap fans in February when she made a clay bowl embossed with the words ‘The End’.
