Mad May: 'I never ruled out a return'

EastEnders actress Amanda Drew has revealed how she never closed the door on the possibility of returning to Albert Square.

This week, viewers have seen Mad May walk back into Walford after a year's absence. The 38-year-old behind the character has now explained how she only heard at the beginning of the year that the soap's bosses were contemplating her return.

Speaking on This Morning, she said of her comeback: "Until January, I didn't think anything more of it and then I met Diederick [Santer], the new executive producer, and we had a chat about what his ideas were for the storyline and I thought it sounded really exciting…

"I think because she had such a strong drive to get the baby, it was always possible that she'd walk in again."

Of her first day back filming, she added: "It was nostalgic…I felt really fond of the place, seeing the Square again and my surgery! I went up and down the steps and had a look around. It was lovely to see everyone, especially Kara [Tointon]."

Amanda originally left the BBC soap in a controversial storyline in which saw her character threaten to steal Dawn Swann's (Kara Tointon) baby by performing a Caesarian on her. The climax to the storyline, which had to be substantially re-written, drew around 200 complaints.

Amanda is currently appearing in London's West End at the Royal Court Theatre in The Ugly One.