Natalie Cassidy will be bowing out of EastEnders after 32 years on the BBC soap – and she certainly won’t be best pleased if show bosses decided to recast Sonia Fowler.

Back in January, the actress announced that she felt it was time “to move on to pastures new” after another 11 year stint on the soap. While details of her exit are still under wraps, Sonia is currently adapting to life as a new mother, as she struggles in the wake of Reiss’s death.

But when the time does come, Cassidy hopes the door will be left open for her to step back into the role for the soap’s next anniversary.

“If they recast Sonia, I’m going to Borehamwood with a sledgehammer,” the actress told The Sun.

“I feel very protective about Sonia. She could die off-screen though.

“We could be watching it one night and you know the old phone call, Kathy runs in saying, ‘Ian, I’ve just had a message, Sonia’s dead.’ That could easily happen.”

She added: “But I do hope, like for the 50th anniversary, that I could pop back.”

 

Sonia’s exit from Walford will likely be in relation to the events of the 40th anniversary, with executive producer Chris Clenshaw previously saying of Cassidy’s exit: “I won’t be revealing the finite details relating to her exit, but I can say that she will take a central role in the 40th anniversary storylines in a week of truly unmissable drama that will change the lives of those in Walford forever.

“I’d like to thank Natalie for her time at EastEnders, and I wish her all the best for the future.”
What fans do know is that Sonia’s daughter, Bex Fowler, will be returning to the Square for her father Martin Fowler’s funeral, following his heartbreaking death during the 40th anniversary live episode. Could this have something to do with Sonia’s exit?
Viewers will have to watch on and be patient to see just how Sonia’s departure from Albert Square will unfold.