Former EastEnders star and current Loose Women panelist Nadia Sawalha appears to have revealed the “weird” reason she chose to leave the soap opera.
Speaking out about the “rubbish” storylines she was getting, the one-time Easties icon revealed her reasons for exiting Walford.
Nadia currently appears as a panelist on the ITV daytime talk show Loose Women. She played shady businesswoman Annie Palmer on EastEnders from 1997 to 1999.
Along with her father George, Annie ran a number of illegal schemes in Walford, ultimately becoming involved in a loan sharking business with Phil Mitchell. She also joined the local council, helping neighbour Ian Beale to run for a seat.
Loose Women star Nadia Sawalha reveals frustration at ‘rubbish’ EastEnders stories
Speaking to the Daily Star, Nadia revealed her frustration at the storylines she had been dealt on the soap. “I remember me and Adam Woodyatt wondering how we were going to cope if we had to do one more week of our rubbish storyline,” Nadia said.
“Because at one point my storyline went a bit weird when I was working for the council with the rubbish,” she continued.
Nadia left the soap not long afterwards, after her character found herself in hot water with a rival business gang. She and her father fled Walford for New Zealand, and have not been seen on the BBC soap since.
Nadia reveals ‘extraordinary’ moment she learned of EastEnders job
The star went on to reveal how she felt when she learned she had gotten the part on the soap. “When I got the part, I could not believe it. I was so happy. I was broke and I remember thinking that there wasn’t going to be a Christmas that year, that’s how broke I was. It was totally extraordinary.”
However, Nadia suffered immense anxiety prior to her scenes being aired. She jokingly described a fantasy she had about all of her scenes being destroyed before anyone could see them. She said she was so “petrified” she was going to bomb, she was “hoping there would be a contained small fire where the film was so it could be burn and never shown to anyone again”.
Doesn’t sound like she’ll be going back any time soon…
Read more: Complete EastEnders cast list for 2023 right here!
EastEnders usually airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One
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