Michelle Collins Takes A Break from EastEnders After Portraying 'Exhausting' Character

Michelle Collins opened up about her upcoming EastEnders break and admitted playing iconic character Cindy Beale is 'exhausting'. The actress, 63, returned to the hit BBC One soap in 2023 with her character 'coming back from the dead' as Walford's residents, as well as fans, believed she was dead after she was killed off on the soap off-screen in 1998. However, Cindy actually went into witness protection, and in this time she met George Knight and had children with him, including daughter Anna and Gina. Cindy made an explosive return in 2023 and she has been part of several dramatic storylines since, including the Cindy whodunnit over Christmas. However, Cindy will leave once again in upcoming scenes albeit for a short break with actress Michelle heading to Edinburgh Festival Fringe to perform her one woman show 'Motorhome Marilyn'. New Acting Venture at Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Talking about her upcoming soap break and new acting venture on Thursday's Good Morning Britain, Michelle told hosts Ed Balls and Kate Garraway of her comeback to EastEnders: 'Listen, I am loving it. I'm loving it because Cindy's taken over the Prince Albert, which is really fantastic, so we're kind of seeing another side to Cindy, a lighter side. Cindy can be exhausting for people to watch and exhausting for me to play, which is why it's kind of nice to go off and do something else. Years ago, they didn't let people really go off and do many things. Maybe the odd panto or something. We have a very new lovely producer and I was kind of quiet. So when I broached the idea, he said: 'Well maybe we can make it work' and he has made it work, which is really exciting.'

It comes as Michelle told The Mirror at Saturday's The British Soap Awards 2025: 'Well I'm going off in the summer. I'm doing my one woman show at the Edinburgh festival, called Motorhome Marilyn. I don't think she's anything like Cindy. It's a play about a woman impersonator lookalike who lives in a trailer and dresses as Marilyn Monroe. But she's 60, it's kind of strange. It's about failure, lost dreams, and feeling like life has passed you by. She's an interesting character. I'm really excited to play it. EastEnders have let me have a month off so I'm very excited.'

EastEnders Break

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.