Samantha Womack misses EastEnders

Former EastEnders star Samantha Womack has said that she misses working on the soap.

The actress quit her role as Ronnie Branning earlier this year and is about to take to the stage in the musical South Pacific.

She told Woman & Home magazine: "Part of me misses EastEnders and Ronnie. Working for long stretches, day in, day out, I knew exactly how she'd think and feel.

"From the first day of discussing the character it was clear she was damaged - with a background of abuse and, as an actress, that was an amazing opportunity. It was demanding, but always fulfilling."

Earlier this week EastEnders' controversial baby swap storyline involving Womack's character was cleared of any wrongdoing by broadcasting regulator Ofcom.

Speaking about the plot, Samantha added: "For scenes that needed to be really gut-wrenching, I delved deep inside myself to portray grief.

"I felt huge sadness when Ronnie lost her baby, but when you act, you do learn how to protect yourself from the emotions [that] you're portraying."

The actress also rubbished claims that she was verbally abused by fans of the soap over the storyline.

"The newspaper stories about people yelling at me in the street when she swapped her baby were rubbish. It never happened."