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The actress's character Zainab endured dark times on Albert Square last year as her abusive relationship with Yusef Khan (Ace Bhatti) left her a broken woman.
Wadia, reflecting on the storyline, told This Morning today (April 23): "It wasn't pleasant. I did a bit of research talking to a lot of women who'd been through quite abusive relationships. Their stories alone upset me, and then to actually play it - Ace is quite realistic in his portrayal of things, so I took away quite a few real bruises!"
Asked whether she is hoping things will look up for Zainab, she replied: "I don't think she can get any worse! Yes, I am - I miss all of the Masood humour. I'm so glad that Christian and Zainab have sorted their problems out - I'm getting less abuse on the street because of that!
"And I love working with Di [Parish] with the Denise-Zainab relationship. I look forward to when scenes with those two are written in - she's just a gem to work with."
Wadia is in the running for the 'Best Actress' prize at this year's British Soap Awards, which take place in London on Saturday (April 28).
> British Soap Awards 2012 - full viewer and panel shortlist revealed
> EastEnders' Nina Wadia broke down over Zainab scene
> Read more EastEnders news and spoilers
Watch Zainab's EastEnders character trail in the video below:
