Michelle Collins has opened up about being haunted by her soap characters after playing Cindy Beale on EastEnders and Stella Price on Coronation Street.
The 59-year-old actress appeared on Steph’s Packed Lunch to discuss her role in the UK theatre tour of Cluedo as the iconic board game character of Miss Scarlett.
Host Steph McGovern asked the veteran soap star which of the characters she’s played has been her favourite, to which Michelle noted that among fans it's always her soap characters that she’s remembered for.
Steph replied: “You were such an iconic person in EastEnders though - I haven’t watched EastEnders for years but I still know Cindy Beale.”
Michelle laughed, saying: “I know, it drives me insane,” as she admitted they’re “much-loved programmes”.
She said members of the public still call her Cindy or Stella “everyday”, to which Steph asked whether she has a practised response.
Michelle said: “If they’re nice and polite then it is what it is. I’ve stopped - I was a bit like that years ago, now I suppose I created this kind of iconic character.
“It is kind of hard but it is what it is. I am a jobbing actor. I try to do lots of different types of things and I get bored quite quickly.”
The actress was quick to cut down the suggestion of a return to soaps, saying she “absolutely wouldn’t” like to play one role forever.
She said: “I absolutely wouldn't. Give me a TV series that’s six or eight episodes, but I don’t like doing long-running things particularly.”
But she then added: “Not that I would turn down a big Netflix long-running drama. Never say never.”
Michelle said she would be open to playing a “gritty” detective in the vein of Prime Suspect, describing: “The flawed messed up detective who smokes too much, drinks too much. Somebody who’s got baggage and isn’t perfect.”
Michelle rose to fame as Cindy Beale in EastEnders in 1988 - when she joined the soap cast for a two-year stint.
She returned to the Square for a special appearance before departing the long-running BBC show for good in 1998.
The actress went on to join Coronation Street as Stella Price in 2011 and then left the soap three years later, as she struggled to juggle her parenting responsibilities with daughter Maia, who she shares with ex-partner Fabrizio Tassalini.
