Samantha Womack says it's still 'too hard' to watch EastEnders two years after leaving

She played Ronnie Mitchell

Author: Emma DoddsPublished 16th Aug 2019
Last updated 16th Aug 2019

Former EastEnders actress Samantha Womack is still raw about leaving the soap two years after leaving her role as Ronnie Mitchell. The 46-year-old, who starred as the hugely popular character on the soap for almost 10 years, appeared in an interview Lorraine earlier today to discuss her stage role in The Girl On The Train.

But, of course, it wasn't long before the talk turned towards her iconic role as Ronnie - for which she won many different soap awards - and how she feels about the brutal axing two years on.

Unsurprisingly, it still stings for Sam, who was booted off the soap with her on-screen sister Rita Simons AKA Roxy Mitchell in a devastating death which saw the pair drown in a swimming pool on the day of Ronnie's wedding to Jack Branning on New Year's Day 2017.

She told Christine Bleakley, "I can’t watch EastEnders. It’s too familiar, I know the sets and know everyone. It’s hard, it’s too hard."

Swipe through to see all the EastEnders spoilers you need to know for next week...

The week begins with Mel Owen receiving a worrying phone call about Hunter. She decides to turn to Gray Atkins for advice when she finds out her son is being moved to another prison.

Samantha Womack says it's still 'too hard' to watch EastEnders two years after leaving
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But she did shower praise on her former co-stars, revealing just how hard it is to be a soap actor, "It's one of the hardest jobs I've ever done and I've done lots - I've done comedy, dramas, films musicals, but soap is... There's nowhere to hide with soap.

"You very rarely get more than three or four takes at it, so you really need to know your stuff. Whenever I look at those really good performances in soap, I take my hat off because I know how hard it is to get them within those circumstances."

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