Michelle Ryan and Jessie Wallace talk about their Albert Square characters being reunited after 20 years
It was exciting for soap viewers, but Jessie Wallace says she burst into tears when she was reunited with Michelle Ryan. The pair are set to star together again later this month on EastEnders. It follows a fleeting appearance from Michelle, 41, as Zoe earlier this Summer for several episodes to tease her full return to the BBC soap.
“I burst out crying,” Jessie recalled of their first meeting. “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.” Wallace also insisted her co-star couldn’t be recast for the new storyline. It comes after reports of all the celebrities rumoured to be joining BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2025.
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In an interview with Radio Times, she recalled: “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.”
Actress Michelle returned to play Zoe Slater after being away from the soap for 20 years in June. Around 2.2 million people watched her shock appearance on the BBC One soap, which unusually had not been made available on iPlayer earlier in the day. She will now return for more episodes in August.
The character is best remembered for the 2001 cliffhanger in which she screamed at her sister Kat Slater “you ain’t my mother!” who fired back with the iconic twist: “Yes I am.”
Michelle described returning to the show, where she last starred in June 2005, as feeling “like coming home”.
Paying tribute to her co-star she said: “Jessie is one of the best actresses I’ve ever worked with.“The rapport we have and our friendship off screen as well, it all just feeds into that mother-daughter bond. On set, it’s like having someone in your corner all the time and always knowing that I’ll be fine. I can just talk to Jessie. We have a shorthand, and we have a similar kind of view on the characters and their journey.”
Michelle was revealed to viewers at the end of the June episode, making a dramatic reunion with step-father Alfie Moon and cousin Stacey Slater just before the credits. It was the first episode produced by the show’s new executive producer Ben Wadey who said the character was on his wish-list of returnees before stepping into the role.
He said: “I was absolutely delighted when Michelle agreed to return, and I’m thrilled to welcome her back to Walford.” After leaving the soap in 2005, Michelle made appearances in BBC One shows Merlin, Doctor Who and Jekyll.
She was also cast as the lead in a remake of the 1970s programme The Bionic Woman, which was cancelled by US broadcaster NBC after eight episodes. Speaking candidly in the Radio Times interview she admitted another reason for wanting to come back was regular work.
She said she had loved the freedom of being able to pick jobs and mixing up theatre and film. “But there comes a time when you think, actually, it would be great to have a routine,” she said.
The actress revealed that the invitation to return to Elstree Studios arrived at a time she had been reflecting on her time on the BBC soap with old castmates. She said: “It all happened at the right time. I’d already been thinking about a return because I’d met up with Kacey Ainsworth and Kim Medcalf and we were reminiscing our fond memories of the show.
“It just so happened that at the same time, EastEnders had announced a new Exec who was keen to explore the potential of a return as he was such a massive fan of Zoe and the Slaters.
“I can’t say too much as there is a lot of drama to come, but Zoe is a mess. She’s not the girl that left Walford twenty years ago, and she’s been really struggling on her own.”
*The full interviews with Jessie and Michelle are in the latest Radio Times out now.
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