Michelle Ryan has defended the decision to kill off Zoe Slater in EastEnders, saying the character’s death was “a natural conclusion” after her return to Walford.
Ryan’s departure comes just over a year after Zoe made a surprise comeback to the BBC soap following two decades away. The actress said she and her agent had discussed her return as a one-year commitment from the outset.
Speaking to Radio Times, Ryan confirmed that Zoe would die on screen and said the decision made sense within the character’s story.
“It just seemed like a natural conclusion for her to die, because for her to run away again would have gone against everything she’d fought for,” she said. “As sad as it was to hear Zoe was going to be killed off, I was like, ‘I completely understand that.’”
The decision has prompted criticism from some EastEnders viewers, who had been hoping to see more of the long-running character after her return. Ryan, however, denied suggestions of tension behind the scenes and rejected claims of bad blood with executive producer Ben Wadey.
“It’s such a big machine that no character is bigger than the show, and I’ve always been aware of that,” she said, adding that she hoped viewers would take comfort from the Slater family continuing to feature in major storylines.
Ryan also paid tribute to her colleagues, revealing that Laila Morse, who plays Big Mo, became so emotional on her final day of filming that she left before the cast’s farewell.
The actress said she had enjoyed working with Wadey and would be pleased to collaborate with him again, describing him as supportive throughout her time back on the soap.
