EastEnders's Jaime Winstone would return as Peggy Mitchell on one vital condition
"I think we owe the fans something."
EastEnders isn't a stranger to switching up its format, especially when it comes to its flashback episodes of the Mitchell clan in '70s and '80s London.
Viewers were first introduced to the flashback cast in 2022 and ahead of this year's 40th anniversary, the cast returned as part of Phil Mitchell's mental health crisis storyline.
Reprising her role as the formidable Peggy Mitchell once more was Jaime Winstone and if the opportunity presented itself again, she would step back into the very big wig.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com at The British Soap Awards 2025, Winstone coyly said she would return as Peggy on the condition that it "would have to be done right".
"It's all [about] timing," she began. "There's a great deal of honour and respect when you're dealing with such a character as Peggy Mitchell. Obviously it would have to be done right. And I would have to sort of step into my own shoes with it. There's a lot of stuff we haven't seen. I think we owe the fans something, I don't necessarily know what, but yeah, maybe to be continued."
The Mitchell family was first introduced in 1990 on the BBC soap, with brothers Phil and Grant the first to make their home in Albert Square before being joined by their sister Sam and matriarch Peggy and, while plenty about the Mitchells' past is known, there could more stories to tell.
The latest standalone episode, which won the award for Best Single Episode at The British Soap Awards this year, saw Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) experience hallucinations as he suffered from psychosis.
Winstone told RadioTimes.com of her return: "It's such an honour, firstly to be asked to come back and do Peggy, because I felt like, 'Wow, we've been accepted by the dedicated audience'. I had real nerves this time because you're dealing with a storyline that's so important to people and touches and relates to people with Phil's psychosis, and talking about mental health on that mainstream level.
"I think it's really important and it's just an honour. There's a real stigma between film and TV and soap and this is what I grew up [with] and this is what I love, and I couldn't be prouder."
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EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.
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Authors
Katelyn Mensah is the Senior Entertainment Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
