EASTENDERS star Natalie Cassidy has taken a swipe at the soap, saying she now feels “free” after quitting the “sad and depressing” role.
Fans watched Natalie’s character Sonia Fowler leave Albert Square for good, trumpet in hand, in April after 32 years on the soap.
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Natalie arrived in Walford in 1993 as part of the rowdy Jackson family.
This included sister Bianca, played by Patsy Palmer, brother Robbie, portrayed by Dean Gaffney, and Lindsey Coulson as mum Carol.
Natalie first left EastEnders in 2007, before returning briefly between 2010 and 2011, and again in 2014.
However, in January 2025 she revealed she was off again, a decision she appears to be very happy with, as she found the role quite “depressing”
“Sonia isn’t the most glamorous of characters, bless her, but I wanted to stay true to her character, so I never got extensions put in, or dyed my hair,” she told Prima magazine.
“She was just a worker who didn’t have a lot of money and worked for the NHS.”
Continuing she revealed: “But coming away, and breaking free, I just thought, ‘I want to be glam. I want to wear coloured nails. And just feel like me’.
“I do feel like my face has changed a little since leaving EastEnders, because I was quite sad and depressed when I was playing Sonia, or angry all the time.”
Natalie announced she was leaving EastEnders in January.
She said in a statement: “After another 11 solid years back on the square, I have decided it’s time to move on to pastures new.
“EastEnders is in my bones so I will never forget where I started my career and I will continue to love the show,” Cassidy said.
“Thank you to [executive producer] Chris Clenshaw for the opportunity to be such a big part of the 40th anniversary – it’s an honour. See you, Sonia, going but never forgotten.”
Shortly after revealing she had quit Natalie exclusively told The Sun on Sunday: “I just feel like it’s time to be brave.
“You don’t want to get to 70 and think, ‘I never tried that’.
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“I’ve loved this programme with all my heart. I started at ten, it’s in my bones, it’s in my heart.”
Natalie made the decision following a heart-to-heart with the soap’s top boss Chris Clenshaw last summer.
She said: “I’d been thinking about it for a little while. I had a wonderful chat with Chris back in the summer (2024). It’s just exciting.”
Since leaving the soap, Natalie has continued to work, which includes her very successful podcast, Life We Nat.
She also did a short-lived podcast called Off The Telly, with Joanna Page, and starred in the comedy-drama Boarders.
EastEnders stars who QUIT
MICHELLE Collins has seen her second EastEnders stint boost her bank balance. Yet what stars have quit this year?
The Sun exclusively reported how Michelle, 62, was down to £20,000 in her company accounts when she agreed to a shock back-from-the-dead return to Albert Square last year.
Her character, Cindy Beale, was presumed dead off-camera in 1998.
Yet what about the 2024 exits?
Earlier this summer, loyal soap fans appeared to note how Stevie Mitchell had “quit” the long-running series.
It came after Alan Ford enjoyed just six-months on-screen.
Bobby Beale actor Clay Milner Russell also left this year after five years in Walford.
Fans also feared Martin Fowler actor James Bye would “quit out of boredom” over recent storylines.
Additionally, a host of stars have quit the BBC soap for Hollywood fame.
One of the most successful stars to come from the BBC One soap is Rob Kazinsky.
He played Stacey Slater’s brother Sean Slater from 2006 to 2009, he has starred in Hollywood blockbusters Pacific Rim and Captain Marvel.
Ben Hardy, who quit EastEnders as Bobby Beale almost a decade ago, went on to break Hollywood the following year, when he starred as Archangel in X-Men: Apocalypse.
Since then, he has played Roger Taylor in Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, and he starred in Michael Bay’s Netflix movie 6 Underground.
Michelle Ryan played Zoe Slater until 2005.
She starred as the lead in short-lived American series Bionic Woman from 2007 to 2008.
