Samantha Womack on her return to Eastenders: I can't wait to be back as Ronnie Mitchell

Samantha Womack on her return to Eastenders: I can't wait to be back as Ronnie Mitchell

IT’s nearly two years since she quit EastEnders.

But as actress Sam Womack prepares to return as feisty child snatcher Ronnie Mitchell, she says she feels as though she never left the BBC1 soap.

Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Mirror before her return to Albert Square, she admits she can’t wait to play Ronnie again because she misses the powerful drama.

Samantha, 40, says: “When I left I went to do musical theatre, possibly the furthest thing you can get from the gritty drama of EastEnders. But still people would recognise me as Ronnie in the street all the time.

“You forget that for avid fans ­EastEnders becomes a part of their life. It’s almost as if it’s real for them. You’re in their world.

“When other characters started talking about Ronnie being due for release from prison earlier this year, it intensified. I crossed a young lad on a staircase a few wee ks ago and he said, ‘It’s true, then? You’re out’.

“That’s how powerful that ­storyline was... people are still talking about it two years on.

“I started getting texts from friends and colleagues saying the other characters were talking about me on the show again and asking if I was ­going back.”

Sam left the soap in July 2011 when Ronnie, who had lost her newborn son James to cot death, stole her friend’s baby. The controversial plot took its toll on Sam, who had been in EastEnders for nearly four years.

She says: “It was a brilliant plot-line but it was so intense and emotionally draining, I was exhausted. It was the right time to leave. Imagine going to work every day and screaming and crying and going through that whole range of emotions. I was really spoilt with the storyline and I wouldn’t change it, but I really lived it.

“Even though I was acting it ­really hit me hard and I knew I needed to get out for a while .”

Sam also admits she ­worried fans would start to get bored with her if she stayed on the soap too long.

“I was ready for a break, but I was conscious that the viewers were probably ready for a break from me, too,” she says. “You can never take fame or popularity for granted.

“I was always thinking there would be a time when people would start to get sick of seeing my mush on telly four nights a week!”

She left us wanting more... but it didn’t take long for Sam to start ­yearning for a dramatic role again.

“I’ve done other things and enjoyed them. I went to the West End and I’ve been working on some comedy, which was great,” she says.

“But deep down, thought-provoking, psychological drama is where my heart lies. EastEnders gives you an opportunity to do all that. It was only when I came away that I realised, ­actually, you don’t really get to do that anywhere else.

“I’m very, very fond of my charact er, I love the place and I love the people. I was knackered when I left but I never ruled out going back.”

We are family: Sam with husband Mark, their two children and stepson Michael

And mum-of-two Sam, who is also stepmum to husband Mark’s son Michael, says the harrowing baby-snatching story which saw her leave in the first place has not put her off wanting to have another child of her own. In fact she’s very broody.

“I’m desperate to have another one but my husband (actor Mark Womack) won’t let me,” she says.

“I keep on telling him it would be such a shame not to have more ­children because we make such beautiful ones.

“I love being a mum and my youngest, Lily, is like me. She’s growing up so quickly and is always about five years ahead of where she should be. I’d love another baby.

“I’m probably being greedy because I already have two but I would like another chance to get it right now that I’m older, ­happier and more confident. The time after I had my first child Ben was really tough.

"My whole outlook on life changed and I felt like a failure as a mother because when I went back to work I had to leave him. I took two years off but it didn’t feel like enough. I know lots of women go through that.

“But the older I get the happier I am and I think I would deal with that better now. If I can’t have another baby I’ll just have to start wheeling Humphrey my dog around in a pram!” Sam admits that although she loves her job, being a woman in showbiz can be a struggle.

“It is changing, but very slowly,” she says. “There is still a huge amount of pressure on women to look good and have it all.

“You’re supposed to be a perfect mother, have a career, and look a million dollars all the time.

“It’s just not realistic and it sets you up for a fall when you don’t do everything perfectly. When I was younger I cared so much about what other people thought of me and how I looked.

“It’s ironic because I look back now and think about all the drinking and smoking and partying I used to do and it’s a miracle I looked tha t good!

“I couldn’t get away with that now. I’ve given up smoking, I don’t drink anywhere near as much and I prefer a night in with my family to showbiz parties.”

Sam says now that she’s entering her 40s she has given up her wild-child ways and feels much more settled. Her children, Ben, 12, and Lily Rose, eight, are the centre of her world and she is “militant” about spending time with them.

Red carpet: Sam at this year's TV Baftas

 

She says: “I’ve gone through a lot of loss in the past few years and that has made me ­really serious about preserving the time I have with my kids.

“I lost my dad and my grandmother, who I spent a lot of time with when I was a child, and that made me value my family even more.”

Sam’s father, Noel Janus, took his own life aged 60 soon after her wedding to Mark in 2009. “I was close with my dad and saw him all the time, but it hadn’t always been that way,” she says.

“We were estranged for some time when I was a child and maybe that’s why I am so strict about always being there and spending time with my own children.

“If one of them has a play date I make sure they’re going to be home in time for when I come home from work.

“I like us to all sit down together and have dinner.

“They grow up so quickly. I have to make the most of them now.”

But as she prepares for a return to the Square, she feels she c an juggle being Ronnie and being Mum much better than in the past.

“I love my job and I love my family. I am very lucky,” she says. Sam will start filming this summer for her six-month stint as Ronnie, along with Gary Lucy and Scott Maslen, who are ­returning as Danny Pennant and Jack Branning.

Welcome back, Ronnie!

SAM is supporting Linwoods Superfoods’ Fab Over 40 Campaign. For informa-tion see www.facebook.com/LinwoodsSuper foods.