Womack: 'Ronnie couldn't go further'

Former EastEnders star Samantha Womack has said that her character Ronnie Branning left the show at the right time.

Womack announced her decision to leave the soap earlier this year amid the controversial baby swap plot involving her character. Her final scenes saw Ronnie imprisoned for her drastic actions which took place over New Year.

Other hard-hitting storylines featuring Ronnie included the death of daughter Danielle and revealing that she had been abused by her father Archie.

Asked whether she was glad to leave Ronnie behind, Womack told The Observer: "I wouldn't say I was glad. Ronnie couldn't go any further. She had so much trauma that it wouldn't have been believable to put her through any more.

"It's a very hard thing to do [as] you get very comfortable being in regular employment, I'm a jobbing actor again, and that's quite scary. I feel grateful to have had the experience but I'm glad to be moving in another direction."

Womack also dismissed reports that she is currently shying away from television roles having signed up for the stage role of Nellie Forbush in South Pacific.

"I'm just trying to mix up the characters - the form in which they come is not important," she said.