EastEnders’ Jessie Wallace “burst out crying” when reunited with co-star - and says Zoe couldn’t be recast

It was a turning point for Wallace, and her character, as both braced themselves for the wave of overwhelming attention that followed. But soaps’ fast pace meant there was no time to dwell on the scene, or wonder how totemic it would become. “On a show like EastEnders you do a scene then go straight on to the next one. You have to let it go. Yes, it was a big moment in the storyline but we did it and walked away, not knowing it would explode like it did.”

Wallace recalls the origins of the Slaters, conceived through a series of workshops and improvisation with the story team, a creative boot camp where actors and writers organically formed a family of formidable females. While seeds were sown of Kat’s tragic past as ideas bounced around, Wallace herself wasn’t aware of what was in store until she’d been playing the role for some months.

“John Yorke, Tony Jordan and Simon Ashdown were all in the workshops, which they’d never done before as a way to bring in a new family. Brooke Kinsella had been in the workshop and was up to play Zoe originally [she later played Zoe’s friend Kelly Taylor] but she didn’t look like a Slater. Michelle did, and when she auditioned after the workshops they could see that she was a beautiful person, and actor.

“Maybe they had the story in their heads from the start or maybe they found it on the way, you’d have to ask them. But when they told me Kat was Zoe’s mum, I was so excited, as was Michelle. We had a two-hander after the reveal, which was daunting but brilliant. When I first started, it would take me a week to learn a monologue, so doing a whole episode with one other person was daunting, but the more I did the job, the more it became a craft.”

Zoe and Kat’s complicated dynamic made it difficult for them to accept each other as mother and daughter, which Wallace believes has haunted her character for decades. “The only time Zoe ever called her ‘Mum’ was in her last scene before she left in 2005. I play it that Kat thinks about Zoe all the time. Zoe is out there but Kat doesn’t want to interrupt her life, she knows she’s fighting her own demons. They’ve both been through a lot and I’m hoping she and Kat will be closer this time.”

Their reunion is a significant moment for EastEnders, revisiting one of the show’s most indelible moments and exploring the impact of the characters’ difficult history. Emotions will be running high, as they were off screen when Wallace and Ryan saw each other again for the first time in 20 years.

“I burst out crying,” recalls Wallace. “We met for a secret dinner date with [executive producer] Ben Wadey and the Slaters. When I saw Michelle, I cried – we were all very emotional. It was nostalgic and lovely.”

Availability and circumstance can often mean roles are recast in soap, as evidenced by the numerous Peter Beales and Ben Mitchells over the years, but Wallace felt Zoe’s return hinged on securing Ryan. “I said to Ben, ‘It has to be Michelle. It won’t feel right if Zoe is recast.’ I wouldn’t be able to give my best performance. The audience would feel completely conned.

“I love Michelle and have always been protective over her, perhaps that’s natural having played her mum. I’m a mother myself now, which I wasn’t when we worked together before, and I’m very protective over my daughter.

“I’ve changed and so has Kat. I’ve grown up a lot, and Kat is more responsible now. She’s got three boys and is married. Kat would die for her children, she wasn’t allowed to be a parent when she had Zoe but has become a great mum. It’s one of the qualities I love most about her.”

Zoe’s return may be raking up Kat’s painful past, but there’s cautious optimism in her future as she’s recently resumed landlady duties at the Queen Vic for the first time since 2012.

“I stepped behind that bar and felt like I’d come home,” she admits. “Because Barbara Windsor was quite short, they raised it up a level, so it’s like getting on a stage. The Vic is the centre point of the show. This is a fresh start for Kat and the Slaters, although there is mayhem from the off.” Just as there has been since the day the clan arrived.

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