EastEnders star Natalie Cassidy has confirmed she will leave the soap after more than 30 years.
The 41-year-old actress has played Sonia Fowler on and off since 1993, but shared on Thursday that she is now officially leaving Albert Square, the fictional area of east London where the soap is set.
“I feel extremely sad to be writing this, but also very excited,” 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 it was “an honour” to be “such a big part” of the soap’s upcoming 40th anniversary special, before adding: “See you, Sonia, going but never forgotten.”
The BBC confirmed Cassidy’s final scenes will take place around the series’ 40th anniversary week, which begins on 17 February.
Precisely how she will leave the show has not been announced.
Her character is currently pregnant with Reiss Colwell’s (Jonny Freeman) baby, unaware that he killed his ex-wife Debbie – a crime Sonia was later charged with. She was found not guilty after a video emerged of her half-sister Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer) confessing to the crime.
It is the latest in a series of dramatic events that have followed Sonia over the years.
‘A firm favourite’
Other big storylines included Sonia being bullied after she fell in with the wrong crowd at school and her teenage pregnancy with Martin Fowler (played by Jon Peyton-Price and James Alexandrou), who she later married.
Cassidy first left the soap in 2007 before returning briefly between 2010 and 2011. She returned once again to Walford in 2014.
She was described by EastEnders executive producer Chris Clenshaw as a “firm favourite amongst viewers”.
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“Over the last 31 years in EastEnders, Natalie has been involved in some of the show’s most iconic and explosive storylines,” he said.
“I won’t be revealing the finite details relating to her exit, but I can say that she will take a central role in the 40th anniversary storylines in a week of truly unmissable drama that will change the lives of those in Walford forever.
“I’d like to thank Natalie for her time at EastEnders, and I wish her all the best for the future.”
Outside the soap, Cassidy appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2012 and currently hosts podcasts Life With Nat and Off The Telly.
