'EastEnders' return for Kathy Beale?

Former EastEnders actress Gillian Taylforth will be offered £200,000 to return to the show as Kathy Beale, according to the Sunday Mirror today.

Gillian joined the show in 1985 and appeared in over 1,000 episodes before quitting in 1997. She has since appeared in The Knock and Footballers' Wives for ITV1. Kathy made a brief return in 2002 as her grandson Steven left for New Zealand, but producers now apparently want her back for good.

An insider told the newspaper, "Bosses are determined to get the soap back on top and they want Kathy Beale back. She was one of the most popular characters and has been a huge hit on Footballers' Wives since. And executives want to capitalise on that too."

The newspaper claims that producers want to recreate the 'love rectangle' between Kathy, Phil (Steve McFadden), Grant (Ross Kemp) and Sharon (Letitia Dean).

Bosses are also searching for a new actor to play grandson Steven.

The insider added, "Because he's been in New Zealand they've talked about finding a Neighbours or Home And Away star. Bosses realise that Coronation Street has a lot of young attractive characters and they have to compete with that."

Gillian said, "I've always wanted to go back because I love EastEnders - I have great friends in the cast and always enjoyed working with Steve McFadden."