Michelle Collins Admits She ‘Wasn’t Enjoying’ EastEnders Before Dramatic Comeback ‘Now, It Feels Right’
Michelle Collins has admitted she “wasn’t enjoying” EastEnders earlier in her career but it now “feels right” to be back in Albert Square after her dramatic comeback from the dead as Cindy Beale.
Michelle left EastEnders after her second stint on the soap in 1998, having played the iconic character Cindy Beale on and off for a decade. Cindy’s storyline ended with her going to prison for hiring a hitman to kill her husband, Ian, and later, fans were told she died during childbirth. But everything changed last year when Cindy returned despite being presumed dead, with a sensational plot twist revealing she had been in a witness protection program.
Reflecting on her return, Michelle said, “It was a big decision to return to EastEnders and I wanted to go back with a good storyline. People love to hate Cindy. She is unapologetic and behaves in a way you shouldn’t behave, but you sometimes can’t help that when you follow your heart, not your gut, and let’s face it, how many women do that?
“You should always say, ‘Never say never,’ as an actor because you never know. The first time round, I was desperate to leave EastEnders to prove I could do other things. I left when I was 33, then went back after my daughter was born – and it wasn’t the same. I’d moved on and I wasn’t enjoying it. I’d had a taste of the outside world. It didn’t feel right, so I left again.”
She added, “Now, it feels right being back. I’m comfortable in my skin, more in the moment. I’m still hard on myself, but I’m in a very different place now. And you don’t see many 62-year-old women getting good TV roles. There are probably four women who get all the roles – and that’s not me being grouchy, it’s just a fact.”
Michelle, who has a 27-year-old daughter, Maia Rose, stayed busy with work on TV and on stage after leaving EastEnders. She also found love later in life, marrying her partner Mike Davidson in 2022.
Michelle shared with Prima magazine, “I thought it would never happen; I just didn’t think I’d ever get married. But Mike and I will have been married for two years in August. I was almost 50 when we met. A psychic told me that I would meet the love of my life when I was nearly 50, and it happened”, via My London News.
She added, “Life’s too short. I’ve lost my mum and five really good friends over the last few years. I’ve had a lot of grieving to do and it makes you think. Life is what you make of it.”