Rita Simons Interview - Part Two

EastEnders actress Rita Simons recently had a chat with DS about next week's episodes, which see her character Roxy Mitchell try to convince jailed sister Ronnie that she should fight for her freedom.

To read all the details about Roxy and Ronnie's latest storyline, click here to read the first part of the interview.

Read on here, though, for some bonus snippets focusing on Sam Womack's departure from Walford, Roxy's future with Michael and more!

In a recent interview, Bryan Kirkwood compared Michael Moon to the late Archie because of the way that he treats people. Have you also noticed a similarity between the two characters?
"Yeah! But I don't think that Roxy is aware that he's so much like Archie at the moment. She doesn't quite know why she likes him, but she definitely does enjoy being in a relationship with him. I think it's the most interested that Roxy has been in someone since Sean. Roxy isn't quite sure what it is about Michael that makes her like him, but as Rita, I'm sure that it's because he reminds her of her dad."

Roxy's missing money was quite a big plot point earlier this year. After finding out that Glenda was telling the truth about her affair with Phil, do you think Roxy has an inkling she was also being honest about the stolen cash?
"No, I don't think she believes a word of it, which is hilarious as she's got it completely wrong! But luckily, Roxy has got the sentiment right, which was that Glenda was a cow! Whether or not she did what Roxy thought she did, she was still a cow, so she's well rid of her."

Were you sad to see Glynis Barber leave the show?
"Oh yeah, I was really sad, as I got really close to her when she was here. For me, my dad went, my sister's going, my mum went, so it's hard! But I'm still in touch with Glynis and I'll be going out for dinner with her soon - it'll be me, Sam and Glynis. That'll be really nice."

As we recently saw Roxy decide to cut her losses with the salon, do you think we could see a new career for her in the coming months?
"I have no idea! I'd quite like them to pick up the DJ-ing thing again, because I thought that was fun."

Roxy also recently had the brief surrogacy storyline with Christian and Syed. Could that be revisited in the future?
"I don't know, but I think it may be revisited further down the line. I'm not 100% sure, but anything's possible."

Do you think Roxy will ever get on with Syed?
"Probably not - I think Roxy thinks that Syed's a little weed, and she doesn't really like him!"

Are you glad that Roxy and Christian's friendship is still going strong?
"Oh my God, definitely. Me and Johnny Partridge have such a laugh, in the same way that me and Sam do. We get fits of the giggles and he's brilliant - I'm really, really close to Johnny in real life, so I love working with him."

Finally, do you think it'll be strange to be at EastEnders without Sam around?
"Oh, it's going to be awful. I'm dreading it, I'm absolutely dreading it. She really is like my sister, and even though I'm sure it'll be fine as I have so many friends here, to think that she won't be around is really quite depressing! But I'll have to get on with it!"

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