Yolande Trueman axed from 'EastEnders'

EastEnders actress Angela Wynter has been axed from the soap after five years, Digital Spy can confirm.

The 54-year-old Rastafarian - who has played Yolande Trueman in the Walford-based soap since 2003 - has revealed that she is unhappy with producers' reasoning not to renew her contract when it expires after being told that there is a shortage of storylines for her character.

Speaking to The Voice, she said: "I'm not unhappy to leave EastEnders because life is about changes and new beginnings, but I am unhappy about the producers reasoning in how they came to their decision because you can always write stories for people to act.

"As I told my boss, I am pleased with the work I did in playing Yolande because I made her as believable as possible. As the years progressed, Yolande has become a part of the fabric of EastEnders and the wider community who people recognised to be an ultra, super representative of themselves - aunts, sisters and mothers."

She continued: "My eyes almost fill every time people tell me how much they love Yolande, because it really makes me appreciate the responsibility that I have been carrying in getting her role right.

"If it has to end, let it finish on a good note rather then her character becoming weak due to the producers."

Her exit storyline is yet to be decided, but she will film her final scenes in the coming months and depart on screen in the autumn.