Emma Barton has revealed how she wants Dot Cotton to return to EastEnders, after June Brown’s shock departure.
The actress, 42, appeared on Lorraine on Wednesday (February 26) and reacted to the news that her colleague had left the BBC soap.
Read more: Why did Emma Barton and Stephen Mulhern split and who is she dating now?
Talking to the Scottish presenter, Emma said she hopes June will one day return to the soap, despite the actress being 93 years of age and recently revealing she’s left “for good.”
Hopefully Dot will parachute back into Walford one day.
The actress, who plays Honey Mitchell, described June as “a darling” and said that she’s considered a “legend” among her castmates.
She added: “I haven’t been there since November so I don’t know what’s going on. But she’s an inspiration to us all.”
Read more: EastEnders viewers can’t get over how tall the new Peter Beale is
She then joked: “Hopefully Dot will parachute back into Walford one day.”
June, who has played Dot ever since 1985, recently revealed she’d turned down the chance of signing a new contract.
While speaking to former co-star Rani Singh – who played shop owner Sufia Karim in the late 80s – on the Distinct Nostalgia podcast, she hinted that she hadn’t been happy with her storylines.
She said: “I don’t want a retainer for EastEnders, I’ve left. I’ve left for good.
“I’ve sent her off to Ireland where she’ll stay. I’ve left EastEnders. I did make up a limerick. It’s a bit dirty. I went back to do a good story. Alas and alack, when I got back it had gone up in smoke.
“I got a small part, a very small part. And that ended up as a big wet fart. Alas and alack, I will never go back.”
On screen, Dot left Albert Square after Martin Fowler told her he was to blame for stealing her missing savings, even though her granddaughter Sonia was actually the culprit.
Emma appeared on Lorraine to talk about Time for a Cuppa, a new campaign that aims to help dementia support charities across the UK.
A supporter of charity Dementia UK following the loss of her uncle to the illness, Emma said: “It’s something very close to my heart. I lost my uncle to dementia a couple of years ago. These admiral nurses, the charity works closely with them.”
Last year, Emma continued to support the cause by running the London Marathon with Barbara Windsor’s husband Scott Mitchell, after the EastEnders veteran was diagnosed with dementia in 2014.
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