WALFORD and me

NATALIE CASSIDY on her past, present and future as fan favourite Sonia Fowler

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EASTENDERS MON-THU, 7.30PM, BBC1 SOAP

Time to dig out the fizz, because EastEnders' 40th anniversary, on 19 February, is just around the corner! TV Times kicks off our celebrations with an exclusive chat with Natalie Cassidy, 41, whose iconic character Sonia Fowler is carrying the child of secret killer Reiss Colwell (Jonny Freeman), and looks set to be a huge part of the drama ahead in the BBC1 soap...

Natalie, we recently saw Sonia cleared of killing Reiss’ wife Debbie, thanks to a confession from her half-sister Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer). Is she starting to smell a rat?

At the beginning, she thinks maybe Bianca could’ve committed the murder, because sisters will do anything for love. But Lauren has her doubts, and is trying to show Sonia that maybe she needs to look at Reiss. I think she’s really torn. She’s like, ‘Could he have something to do with this?’, but then straight away she thinks, ‘No.’ He’s kind, he’s lovely, he always tries his best… and he wears cardigans!

Sonia and Reiss were initially a surprise for viewers. Have you been surprised by the reaction of their story?

The connect was unlikely, I loved it, and I think they had like 2% of Roy and Hayley Cropper, without any of the sinister stuff from Corrie. There was an old-fashioned romance about them; being the crossword and being at home together and in soup. It was not interesting forever, and there was always a story to tell with Reiss’ wife being a drama. Then the audition room for Reiss, there was something about him being a little dark.

Your character was off-screen for a while when she was in prison. Tell us what you got up to?