Kara Tointon: 'EastEnders became boring'

Kara Tointon has admitted that her four-year stint on EastEnders ended disappointingly.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, the Strictly Come Dancing winner, insisted that it was a relief to be axed from her role as Dawn Swann - despite previously stating that she missed the show.

"I knew it was time for me to go. When you don't have a big storyline it can be boring. All your character seems to do is order a sandwich in the cafe for months on end," she revealed. "But you're also conscious that you need to pay the mortgage."

The star added: "You get caught up in the 'EastEnders' bubble and start to answer to your character's name. In a way I was relieved when Dawn was written out. Would I have had the guts to leave myself?"

Since leaving EastEnders, which she appeared in from 2005, Tointon has guest-hosted BBC Three show Don't Call Me Stupid as well as a number of pantomimes.

She is currently starring as Eliza Doolittle in a West End production of Pygmalion which also features Rupert Everett as Henry Higgins.