Palmer: 'I hope Barbara Windsor returns'

Patsy Palmer has revealed that she wants her former EastEnders co-star Barbara Windsor to return to the soap.

Windsor announced in October that she has decided to leave the BBC One drama, and later rumours that she planned to come back turned out to be untrue.

Palmer, who plays Bianca Jackson, told PA: "I was really happy to hear she might be coming back already but I think that's just all nonsense - it's a shame."

She added that the audience are already unhappy that Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) is running the Queen Vic instead of Windsor's character Peggy Mitchell.

"You realise with this storyline with Roxy in the pub how weird it's going to be," she said. "I think the viewers are already getting a bit annoyed. They want Peggy back in the pub. When she goes back in, even my kids who are 8 and 9 and don't even know what a pub is, they say, 'Isn't it nice when Peggy's in the pub?'

"It won't be the same without her. She's brought such a lot to EastEnders. She's such a great character, such a typical East End woman. That's what viewers want, someone they can relate to.

"She might come back, though. I hope she does. Unless she gets something else really good, it would be nice to see her."