EastEnders legend Nina Wadia has revealed that she left the BBC soap because the storylines were getting ‘ridiculous’.
The actress played the iconic Zainab Masood from 2007 until 2013 and was involved in some huge storylines, including learning that her son was gay and a harrowing domestic violence plot.
Now, Nina has explained her reasons for leaving the show, telling Vanessa Feltz on Jeremy Vine that the storylines were a major deciding factor.
‘When the storylines get so ridiculous and so difficult, you kind of think, “I’m out”.
‘The reason I left was because the storylines were getting ridiculous. That was one of the reasons I left. There were several, but that was one of the main reasons.
‘My husband Masood was going to have yet another affair, and I was like, “How can I react any differently to the way I reacted before when he told me he was having an affair?”
She went on to explain how the initial brief for the character was ‘Pauline Fowler but funny’, and that for the first two years she was able to flex her comedy chops.
‘Then they gave me a domestic violence storyline and I thought, “How can I be funny with that storyline? I don’t understand.”,’ she said.
‘I think what happens is that when you have a change at the top with the execs, they bring in their vision, someone who hasn’t really been paying attention to what your character’s been doing, and all of a sudden you’re asked to do something absolutely ridiculous.’
As Vanessa pointed out that Zainab was still alive so could still come back to Albert Square, Nina revealed that she had actually asked for the character to be killed off, but didn’t get her wish.
Despite this, it seems she’s not ruling out a return to the show.
‘Hopefully at some point if they invite me back, it will be for something a bit more interesting to do.
‘She’s still alive. They wouldn’t kill her off. I did ask to be killed off because I thought, “Yay, I’ll get a big storyline if I get killed off!” But they were like, “No, we want her back someday”. So who knows?’
Last year, fans of the show got an update on Zainab when Jade Masood revealed that she and mum Shabnam were planning to move to Pakistan to be with her, revealing that the character had fallen ill.
Could a return for all three characters be on the cards in future?
