Samantha Womack, the actress who left EastEnders, revealed it wasn’t her choice to end her beloved Ronnie Mitchell role.
Samantha Womack has hit out at soap bosses for being “rejected” as she reflected on her exit from EastEnders. The actress, who won over fans with her portrayal of Ronnie Mitchell, made her debut on the BBC soap in 2007.
She teamed up with Rita Simons, who played Roxy, her close sister. After Ronnie’s second wedding to Jack Branning, the dearly beloved sister duo were brutally murdered.
Sean O’Connor took over as executive producer, making the decision to leave Albert Square with Ronnie and Roxy. Samantha now admits that it wasn’t Rita’s or her choice to leave the soap and that she felt “rejected” by the new boss.
She acknowledged that she had no idea what transpired because one producer was leaving and another was coming in. Samantha struggled to accept life without Walford, as she described herself as “losing a family.”
Samantha compared the loss to a “bereavement” and revealed it made her lose “stability”. “But the thing that was the most painful – and it really was painful – was that me and Rita loved feeling like we belonged there,” she told the Daily Mail.
Then to be rejected, which hit us both so hard, I understand that’s emotional, but that’s what it was. Samantha has since been able to see it differently in the course of time.
She claimed that leaving the soap opened doors for new opportunities. The actress has focused on her acting career and has since taken on a number of high-profile roles.
She also appeared in the musical The Addams Family and appeared in The Girl on the Train in the United Kingdom in 2019. Since then, she has relocated to Valencia.
However, things haven’t been easy for Samantha as she underwent gruelling treatment for breast cancer after being diagnosed in August 2022, which has changed her outlook on life.
“I feel so much more enlightened,” she told the Mirror. “I know myself better, I feel humbler, I feel calmer.” Samantha added: “After my year-and-a-half of treatment, I started turning down a lot of stuff – and I didn’t have the bank balance to match that confidence, trust me.”
Samantha explained that when I said she was cancer-free in December 2022, “it was me saying the word “no” and my bank account started to creak.”
But there was empowerment in that because I decided, “OK, I need to go through this, spend time with myself, and figure out some things that I’ve forgotten to do, maybe some things I’ve forgotten.” “
Samantha learned she had a fast-spreading, Grade 3 invasive duct carcinoma and her treatment – a lumpectomy and lymph node removal, followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy – couldn’t wait.
People living with cancer and their loved ones can receive private support from The Macmillan Support Line. If you need to talk, call us on 0808 808 0000.
READ MORE: ‘I ditched B&Q paint for an eco-friendly range and it’s transformed my home’
Source: Mirror
Leave a Reply