Lesbian storyline one of the reasons I quit: Eastenders star
January 21st, 2010 by Chloe.Setter
Former Eastenders star Natalie Cassidy has revealed that a key factor behind her quitting the soap was her character’s controversial lesbian storyline.
Cassidy, who was recently back in the spotlight when she took part in last year’s BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing series, told Reveal magazine that she did not feel it was the “right” direction for character Sonia Fowler, neé Jackson, to take.
She said: “One of the reasons I left was because of the lesbian storyline I had - I felt that is wasn’t right for Sonia.”
The 26-year-old, who had acted in the show since she was 10, left the BBC soap just over two years ago after Sonia’s affair with nursing friend Naomi Julien.
It was a surprise turning point for the character who had been in a long-standing, on-off relationship with soap favourite Martin Fowler.
Sonia fell in love with Naomi when her marriage to Martin was on the rocks, but Eastenders bosses were highly criticised for their handling of the storyline with many accusing the soap of being unrealistic and attention-grabbing.
“Sometimes in soaps, people are so keen to get a shocking story that the character gets forgotten,” Cassidy said.
In 2005, author and TV critic Grace Dent called Sonia “the worst lesbian ever”.
She said of the character: “The only lesbians with less lesbian tendencies than you are the women on the front cover of the Horny Triple-X Lesbian Specials which they keep at eye level by the sweets in my corner shop. Time to make a U-turn.”
Before quitting the soap in 2006, her character did just that, leaving for the US with husband Martin and their daughter.
Cassidy is set to make a one-off return to Albert Square to attend the wedding of her character’s sister, Bianca Jackson, next month, but she insisted she would only make a long-term return if her character was able to “cause a stir” with an exciting storyline.
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