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Comedy legend Ronni Ancona is making her EastEnders debut as mysterious new character Bea, set to arrive in the New Year with a dramatic school reunion storyline involving a major character

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EastEnders’ Linda Carter is set for a reunion with an old school-friend as a new character is set to move into Walford.

In a move that’s about to send EastEnders fans into a frenzy, comedy icon and acting powerhouse Ronni Ancona is gearing up to make her explosive debut on the BBC soap as brand-new character Bea – and she’s about to shake up Walford in a way nobody sees coming.

Ronni, whose glittering career has spanned more than three decades with standout turns in Last Tango in Halifax, Penelope, Skins and The Trip, might be new to Albert Square… but she’s certainly no stranger to it. Long-time viewers will remember her uncanny – and utterly hilarious – impressions of legends like Peggy Mitchell, Sharon Watts and Kat Slater on the BAFTA-winning Big Impression. Now, though, she’s stepping into Walford for real – and things are about to get deliciously messy.

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Bea’s arrival is set to explode onto screens in the New Year, when she comes face-to-face with Linda Carter at a high-school reunion that starts innocent enough… before it all goes sideways. It doesn’t take long for tensions to bubble as Linda and Bea quickly realise they remember their school days very differently. And if there’s one thing Walford thrives on, it’s a clash with history lurking beneath the surface.

Once Bea makes her way into Albert Square, insiders say she wastes no time getting pulled straight into the thick of the drama. Her backstory is being kept tightly under wraps – classic EastEnders secrecy – but early whispers hint that she’s a woman with layers, secrets, and more bite than anyone expects.

Speaking about her arrival, Ronni says: “I am honoured to have been invited to join the iconic institution that is EastEnders, and to go on this whirlwind of a journey with such an unpredictable, nuanced and complex character as Bea. I hope audiences have as much fun watching her as I have had bringing her to life.”

Executive Producer Ben Wadey couldn’t be happier either, calling Ronni “immensely talented” and hinting that Bea’s mysterious presence will make her one to watch. “Bea’s character is mysterious, and we’re thrilled to have an esteemed actress and comedian like Ronni playing her.”

This comes after a legend of EastEnders history has made a shock return to Walford, and her sinister lurking has some convinced she’s back for revenge. Though the character has yet to speak, fans are sure she wants to “get back” at another Albert Square resident for a crime they helped commit 20 years ago.

In a cliffhanger airing on Thursday (4 December), Zoe Slater was chatting with Lauren Branning as she walked through the Square. Despite her increasing panic and vigilance about her stalker, she failed to notice that she was indeed being watched – by Sam Mitchell.

The Mitchell sister was seen watching Zoe from the shadows just before the duff duffs sounded. Fans were delighted and surprised to see Sam return, with one saying, “Sam is back! I’ve missed her,” and another adding that while they knew she was returning, they weren’t “expecting to see her today”.

But some thought the creepy way she was watching Zoe was a sure sign that she wants revenge on the Slater. 20 years ago, the two women were involved in the murder of Dirty Den Watts.

As Sam watched, Zoe, who had been sleeping with him, hit Den with a metal doorstop when he attacked his wife Chrissie. Zoe and Sam both ran out of the Vic and didn’t see him get back up and try to attack Chrissie again, nor did Zoe see Chrissie deliver the fatal blow.

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Sam did, and struggled to keep it to herself. She eventually told a distraught Zoe that she was not actually the murderer. Too hurt by what has happened, Zoe left Walford. After she did, Chrissie was arrested for the murder and Sam had to go on the run from the police after helping to cover it up.

Though Sam has now got her life back together, fans are sure she wants revenge on Zoe, the only one of the three not to lose elements of her life after the Dirty Den ordeal.

One said they thought the way Sam lurked in the shadows was a sign she had been stalking Zoe: “I’m convinced it is [her] now after tonight’s Duff Duff! Also Sam has motive to get back at Zoe after all the Dirty Den stuff.” Another added: “Wow the Return of Sam Mitchell to get revenge on Zoe 20 years since Den’s death.”

Strictly Come Dancing star Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin earned a perfect score of 40 for their Jive last week and this week’s Charleston but the actress refuses to look ahead to the final following Vicky Pattison’s surprise exit

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Amber Davies says she refuses to let her mind wander to dreams of the Strictly final – because this year’s competition has proved far too unpredictable to take anything for granted.

Speaking ahead of Musicals Week alongside her dance partner Nikita Kuzmin, the 29 year old West End star admitted she’s keeping her feet firmly on the ground, especially after seeing fellow contestant Vicky Pattison go “from the top of the leaderboard to leaving” in the space of a week. “You just never know,” Amber says. “The competition is so unpredictable.”

Despite fans insisting Musicals Week is “her moment,” Amber insists she genuinely hasn’t allowed herself to plan that far ahead. “When I said I was taking it one week at a time, I meant it,” she explains. “I came into the competition in such a peculiar way, I was on the back foot and catching up from day one. I didn’t dare dream ahead.”

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She admits the only time she even thought about what might be coming was around Blackpool week, when pro partner Nikita, 27, mentioned musical numbers were on the horizon. “If you have no expectations, you can’t be disappointed,” she says. “That’s why I take everything week by week.”

Amber and Nikita’s recent scores left them on a high. The pair received a perfect score of 40 for their performance last week dancing the Jive to Proud Mary by Tina Turner. This week they danced the Charleston to Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat from Guys and Dolls, which she also received a perfect 40 for.

“It was so under-marked again — honestly, what is happening?” Amber laughs sarcastically. “But the reaction was overwhelming in the best way. We weren’t expecting those comments at all. I’ve been buzzing all week.” Still, she says it doesn’t take pressure off. “Every dance is a reset. The jive is nothing like the Charleston. New week, new mindset.”

And as for the final? She won’t entertain the idea. “If you set yourself up for disappointment, that’s on you,” she says firmly. “The competition is so high this year. Lewis is seen as the frontrunner, Karen’s the dark horse, Vicky leaving showed how quickly things change… You absolutely cannot get ahead of yourself.”

Her Strictly journey started in spectacular fashion after she received what she calls “the greatest phone call of my life” — being asked to replace injured contestant Dani Dyer who had to drop out due to an injury. “My agent told me to sit down. It was all fifty-fifty until that final call on Thursday night saying, ‘You’re in.’ Then suddenly I was meeting Nikita Friday morning and doing a camera block that night. It was the most wonderful, bizarre, terrifying 48 hours.”

Thrown into the deep end, Amber says she and Nikita had to “bond immediately.” Somehow, it worked. “I’ll never forget the tremble in my legs that weekend,” she says. “But I believe everything happens for a reason. I’ve learnt so much — not just technically but about myself.”

One of those lessons? Blocking out “the outside noise.” Amber explains: “In the past I’d let comments get into my head, but this time I put me and Nikita in a bubble. No social media, no negativity. I think I’m stronger than I realised,” to which Nikita agreed: “Amber was so ready to go go go. She asks over 900 questions a day I am sure.”

She has stayed close to Dani Dyer throughout, calling her after her first dance and dedicating the routine to her. “She was so complimentary. She’s such a lovely girl.”

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Comparing Strictly to her normal theatre career, Amber says the two worlds couldn’t be more different. “On stage you do the same show eight times a week. Here, you’re learning brand new choreography under huge pressure, with millions watching. It’s so much harder than I expected.”

While she has received support from from Love Island pals to Strictly winners like Ore Oduba, Louise Redknapp, Ellie Leech and Layton Williams, it is her boyfriend Ben who has been her anchor throughout. “His life flipped upside down as quickly as mine did. He’s been my rock. I couldn’t have done this without him.”

For now, though, she’s keeping her head down, her notepad open in rehearsals, and her expectations firmly in check. As she says: “You just never know on Strictly — and that’s why I’m taking it one week at a time.”

EXCLUSIVE: Former Sugababes star Mutya Buena opens up about partying, anxiety, depression and choosing her daughter over her career in revealing new book Real Girl

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Performing songs from the age of seven at weddings and birthdays, Mutya Buena and her dad Roberto would be rewarded with a big glass filled with coins and notes from grateful guests.

Just six years later, in 1998, she would be a Sugababe, part of one of Britain’s biggest girl bands and able to buy her parents a house with the proceeds of her first contract. But fame came at a price and she now realises that at one point she had only one day off in an entire year.

In her new book Real Girl, 40-year-old Mutya says: “Some of the adults we dealt with cared more about our worth than our wellbeing. As long as we were making money for them, they couldn’t give two sh*ts about what was going on in our heads or our hearts as children.”

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Things had started off so well when Mutya sang at those parties for the London Filipino community. Aged nine, she appeared on Michael Barrymore’s TV show My Kind Of People, singing Whitney Houston’s The Greatest Love of All.

Fast forward a couple of years and Mutya had met Keisha Buchanan and was still singing – but also smoking cigarettes stolen from her mum on the way to school.

Her career may never have begun had her dad not been working in an Asian food shop in Acton, West London. A regular customer, Ron Tom, had managed the girl band All Saints and Roberto told him his own daughter was a great singer.

It was a pivotal moment for Mutya. Within days, Ron and producer friend Don-E had Mutya singing in the studio with another 13-year-old girl, Siobhan Donaghy. The session went well and later, when Keisha came to the studios to watch her pal Mutya, Ron asked if she could sing.

Mutya writes: “Before long, Ron had all three of us singing together, and when he heard the result – the special tight blend that we had straight away – he announced gleefully, ‘My sugar babies!’ And so that’s how we began. We started out as the Sugarbabies but soon found out the name had already been taken by an American gospel group, so had to change it. Cue: Sugababes.”

The band spent the next months perfecting their sound. But Mutya admits she also “got quite nifty at stealing other people’s spliffs and sneaking out to puff on them”.

Mutya and her bandmates were handed a cheque “for the kind of money you dreamed of” and it bought a new home for her parents. But it also meant she had cash to spend on partying, and she recalls some doormen were happy to let a pop star into their clubs even if they were underage.

“Instead of pacing myself, I went all out, chasing as much fun as I could find, trying to make up for the youth I was missing out on,” Mutya writes.

Her partying got out of hand, leading to a £15,000 taxi bill as cars ferried friends into London for a night out on the town. She would sometimes go straight from parties to promoting a record with the band on TV shows such as GMTV or CD:UK. She says: “I couldn’t do it now; I love my sleep too much! Back then I barely knew what sleep was.”

With the Sugababes, Mutya had four UK number one singles, an additional six top-ten hits and three multi-platinum albums. But not everything was perfect. Paperwork Mutya found when writing the book shows she had only one day off in her schedule for a whole year.

It took its toll. She suffered from anxiety and depression, survived an attempted rape attack and after becoming a mum, aged 20, left the band when Tahlia was born in 2005. She says: “I chose my daughter over my career. …I don’t regret it.”

Later solo work included working with George Michael and supporting Prince at London’s O2. But issues remained and she spent her 27th birthday in a therapeutic hospital.

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Mutya had some more problems including being made bankrupt in 2014 when she sold off assets to pay her debts. Several abusive relationships left their mark as well, but Mutya returned to perform with Keisha and Siobhan in 2012, reforming as MKS.

The girls won back their name and began to perform again as the Sugababes in 2019. Since then they’ve toured and played Glastonbury twice but take things at a less hectic pace.

Now wiser than in her teen years, Mutya says she only drinks on special occasions. She adds: “It still amazes me that people want to turn up and see us after all this time.”

Real Girl by Mutya Buena, published by Bantam, is out now.