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Daily Record
Daily Record
Entertainment
Joel Leaver & Siobhan Macdonald

Danniella Westbrook turns to witchcraft after EastEnders recast her role

Danniella Westbrook has been performing "spells and rituals" as she shows off her crystals on social media, days after explosive rant about being recast on EastEnders.

The 48-year-old actress, who is best known for her role as Sam Mitchell on the BBC show, took to Twitter to slam the soap for recasting her iconic role.

Amid the drama, Danniella shared the spooky footage on Instagram to her 79,000 followers, as she showed off her ritual preparations with crystals, candles and stones laid out on a tray.

She shared her witchy items on social media (Instagram)
She's practising witchcraft now (Instagram)

The posts were captioned: "New moon rituals, spells and truths to tell." The atmospheric videos featured the song Just Like Magic, by Ariana Grande played in the background.

As reported in The Mirror, her witchcraft posts come after Westbrook responded to the news that the character Sam had been recast with Kim Medcalf.

She tweeted: "Wishing Kym the best of luck at [EastEnders]. Yet again this poor woman has to recreate Samantha Mitchell as close to my last two recent come backs."

Danniella originally played Sam between 1990 and 2000 and was later replaced by Kim Medcalf.

Kim Medcalf is reprising the role as Sam Mitchell (BBC)

Kim took over the role from 2002 until 2005, before the character was recast with Westbrook back in the role from 2009 to 2010 as well as in 2016.

It was however announced earlier this year that Sam will return to Albert Square, though it will be Medcalf playing the character - replacing Westbrook for a second time.

Westbrook has wished Medcalf "the best of luck" but has expressed disappointment at the BBC over the decision, even threatening the broadcaster with legal action.

The Celebrity Big Brother alum further commented: "Go smash it darling." She however said her legal team would be in touch with the BBC and later teased her upcoming book.

The Mirror approached the BBC and reps of Westbrook for comment.

Westbrook previously revealed that she met Medcalf at an awards ceremony about a decade ago and said that she expressed thanks to her replacement for "keeping Sam alive."

She said: "I had never seen Kim before, so I went up to her on the red carpet and I said: 'Kim, I just wanted to say well done on the part."

The actor said she told Medcalf: "'I know you took a lot of backlash and everything for stepping in, but you did a fantastic job. You're a very talented actress and thank you for keeping Sam alive."

EastEnders continues tomorrow at 7.30pm on BBC One. You can catch-up through BBC iPlayer.

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