It’s more than 25 years since EastEnders fans watched in horror as Cindy Beale hired a hitman to bump off her hapless husband Ian Beale. But now she’s back from the dead – and Ian is by her side.
Last night, viewers saw Michelle Collins burst on to the screen for the first time since 1998, when she was carted off to prison for attempted murder.
Not only is Cindy back, but she’s also been revealed as ‘Rose’ – the absent wife of new Queen Vic manager George Knight, played by Colin Salmon.
Michelle, 61, filmed her first scenes on location abroad, but she’s now stepped back on the set, and into Albert Square.
“It’s surreal,” she laughed. “It’s nerve-wracking but it’s also very exciting.”
Adam Woodyatt, 54, is also returning as Ian after three years away.
Michelle admitted that, despite having never fully shed the role of Cindy, she never truly believed the character could be written back in – until dynamic soap boss Chris Clenshaw had other ideas.
“Do you know what, I didn’t think they could ever do it,” she confessed on the eve of her comeback. “Life is about timing. If it had happened five years ago, I probably would’ve said no.
“Adam and I were both touring and he’d mentioned it to me.
“I said to my agent, ‘obviously it’s ridiculous, but let’s just go and meet Chris’.
“And we had this breakfast meeting and he got his laptop out and he reeled it off and we both went, ‘wow’. Oh my God. It was incredible. And I was just like, actually, maybe this could work.”
Cindy was said to have died off-screen, in jail, while giving birth to her fourth child Cindy Jr. But not only is she alive, she’s got a secret second family thanks to a 15-year relationship with George.
She is living a luxurious lifestyle in the French countryside. Tonight, viewers will discover that Ian is there too – and there’s a whole lot more detail to unravel.
Michelle was sold on the idea that one of the Square’s oldest families, the Beales, could be completely tied up with the arrival of brand new family, the Knights.
She says: “Cindy was completely living this double life. It’s feasible.
“You have to have a back story of where she was, where has she been, what has she been doing. It’s genius the way it’s all been put together.”
Since leaving EastEnders, Michelle, born in Hackney, appeared in Coronation Street as pub landlady Stella Price from 2011-14, but fans found it hard to accept her as a northerner. She joined Casualty as events organiser Samantha Kellman in summer 2014 and also enjoyed roles in Death in Paradise, Midsomer Murders and kids’ drama The Dumping Ground.
In real life, she has a 26-year-old daughter, Maia Rose, with ex-partner Fabrizio Tassalini. Last year, she married her partner of 10 years, Mike Davidson, and she is also an ambassador for Oxfam.
Michelle feels that stepping back into Walford is a great opportunity for her as an actor. She enthuses: “The soaps have fantastic stories for women. And there aren’t many shows on TV that can give women of a certain age central characters, and show those stories.
“And when you get to 60, as a woman, you’re not bloody written off. You get to do these fantastic things.
“That’s where EastEnders is great because it’s not all about youth. It’s about people. And I’ve always played quite strong women.”
She says over the years it’s always Cindy she gets asked about, regardless of who she’s playing at the time.
“I’ve never got rid of Cindy,” she admits. “It’s like she’s there but it’s 26 years later and, I mean, she’s been through quite a lot.
“I was quite amazed the amount of children she’s had. I have to keep saying to Adam, who’s that? Who’s his dad?”
Cindy/Rose is actually a mother of six – she had Stephen with Simon Wicks and twins Peter and Lucy with Ian before she left, and then Cindy Jr, the result of a brief fling, in jail.
Both Stephen and Lucy have died and now, we find out, there are also Gina and Anna Knight, played by Francesca Henry and Molly Rainford.
Executive producer Chris says when one of the BBC soap’s writers pitched the idea of Cindy coming back, he knew it was a winner.
He says: “Everyone kind of gasped – which made me go, well, maybe there is something in this.”
The return has been planned since last summer. Ian was seen speaking to someone on the phone in a one-off appearance at Dot Cotton’s funeral – it was Cindy, viewers will realise.
Chris said he was thrilled with the way the story plays out. He adds: “What will become much clearer is how they got back together, just over a year ago, and how she really relied on Ian. At the end of the day, he’s hopelessly in love, isn’t he?
“Yes, she tried to kill him but he’s had six marriages and I think love is blind when it comes to Ian.”
Adam is loving having Ian and Cindy back together. “Working with Michelle’s been like putting on an old pair of slippers,” he chuckles. “It just works.”
Michelle reckons they are less confrontational with each other than they used to be. “In the old days we would row coming out of our dressing rooms, we would row going to the set, we would row on set and then we’d row coming off set,” she recalls. “We spent our whole life squabbling.
“Both of us have mellowed and I think we’re just both a bit more comfortable in our lives.”
Michelle is hoping EastEnders fans will be happy to see them back again. “I don’t think EastEnders is the same without Ian,” she says. “And I think Cindy’s a much-loved character. Whether you like her or not, she had a huge impact on people. So I hope people will be excited on her return.”
