It looks unlikely that Danniella Westbrook will ever appear on EastEnders again - having first set foot in Walford over 30 years ago.
The 48-year-old actress has slammed the BBC after she was overlooked to reprise the role of Sam Mitchell, with Kim Medcalf taking over the character once again.
Danniella was just 16 when she was cast as the feisty younger sister of hardmen Phil and Grant - and her appearance helped secure the job.
During her final audition for the hotly contested role, Danniella and other hopefuls had to stand in front of a panel of producers, directors and writers for a lengthy period.
They continuously compared those auditioning with images of Ross Kemp and Steve McFadden, who were Sam's on-screen brothers, to look for a resemblance and decided Danniella was perfect.
After three successful years, Danniella decided to leave in 1993 for new opportunities but the door was left open for her return.
But when she arrived back in Albert Square it was a very different story - and she was axed for the first time in 1996.
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Bosses grew tired of her poor attendance and unreliability - with Danniella later admitting she blew £100,000 on cocaine over a two-year period.
In her 2006 autobiography The Other Side of Nowhere, Danniella wrote: "The producers now had serious doubts about my future on the soap. I was proving to be a liability.
"My behaviour was interfering with the schedule. It was interfering with other cast members' work. There were days when I just didn't bother showing up for work at all."
The actress claimed she was "politely" told they would let her go early and terminate her contract while writing Sam out of the soap.
In 1999 they invited Daniella back again as part of Ross Kemp's exit storyline, but changes had to be made on set.
Due to her excessive cocaine use, Danniella's septum had completely eroded away and she was famously photographed with it missing at the 2000 British Soap Awards.
To combat this, the actress was only filmed from special angles above her in ways that would keep her septum hidden from viewers.
But Danniella's EastEnders contract was not renewed and she left the soap once again in January 2000.
Speaking in YouTube show Girl Talk last year, hosted by celebrity agent Melanie Blake, Danniella said EastEnders were right to get rid of her
"I deserved my sackings because I was a liability to that programme. I was a terrible cocaine addict when I was young and I did abuse the platform I was on. I just couldn’t be trusted," she said.
"It wasn’t a decision that they really had to sit down and make. It was a necessity, I had to go. In my early days, I was using all the time.
"And if they had kept me I probably wouldn’t be here today. I 100% think that. Because I’d have just been getting money, turning up and making it ok for me to use.”
Back in 2018, Danniella told The Mirror that her nose is now stable.
"I’m obsessed with the f***ing nose, touching it loads," she confessed.
"My kids go, ‘stop touching it, there’s nothing wrong with it’. And I’m like, ‘I know’. It’s a fear thing - I’m just always touching it."
The actress was then replaced for the first time by Kim Medcalf between 2002 and 2005, but then made a return in 2009 and her contract was actually extended slightly beyond the original three months.
Her most recent appearance came in February 2016 when she returned from Peggy Mitchell's funeral.
Danniella was not too happy when she found out the role of Sam Mitchell was going back to Kim.
The unhappy actress wrote: "Wishing Kim the best of luck at @BBCEastenders__ yet again this poor woman has to recreate a Samantha Mitchell as close to my last two recent come backs on the square go smash it darling..x oh but not to @bbceastenders my legal team will be in touch."
The snubbed star also claimed the BBC soap would be hearing from her 'legal team' and also hinted at future revelations that she has 'never told' in her upcoming book.
"Well well well who knew [laughing emojis] all I can say is thanks looks like I dodged a bullet."
Daniella then added: "Oh but not to @BBCEastEnders my legal team will be in touch to know why when I held the...'@bbceastenders contract too the last two times the character bounced in &out on a ratings or stint. For the record I was never sacked or dismissed and saw out both contracts one of them even being extended for episodes."
"It’s great 2 C the same level of care standards & loyalty 2'@bbceastenders you bang on about having and giving to both new & old members of cast is still going as strong then as it always has… not just me as Sam that needs replacing I’d look closer to the top of the show and cut that dead wood after all it’s all about evolving."
Giving a final warning, she added: "Bet you all can’t wait for my new book now can ya ….. oh it’s gonna go way back to the things I’ve never ever told #beafraidpeople #itsallgood."
It has been reported that EastEnders bosses first approached Kim in early 2021 to discuss the possibility of a comeback and she is due to start filming in a few weeks' time.
In a statement, Kim said: "When the BBC approached me last year to reprise the role of Sam I was thrilled.
"She's a brilliant character and I can't wait to get back in the Square this spring and work with the amazing cast of both familiar and new faces."
During Kim's last appearance on the Square, Sam was involved in Dirty Den Watts' murder plot when she schemed with his scorned wife Chrissie and Zoe Slater.
It remains to be seen as to how Kim's version of Sam will be reintroduced, but the BBC's head of continuing drama Kate Oates has promised fireworks.
"The Mitchells are one of the most iconic families in soap, and I have long wanted to bring Sam back into the family fold," said Oates.
"With Phil potentially facing a long spell inside, Sam arrives back in Walford ready to take what she sees as her rightful place in the Mitchell empire.
"But with strong grudges against Kat, Sharon, Jack and Denise, to name but a few, her return is guaranteed to be explosive…"
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