EastEnders' Charlie Brooks admits she's 'biding her time' for Janine return
The Janine Butcher star had been tipped for a possible appearance in the soap's upcoming 40th anniversary celebrations.
EastEnders star Charlie Brooks will be taking to the ice for the first time when Dancing on Ice begins its new season tonight (Sunday 12th January) – but it looks like we might have to wait a little while before we see her back on the small screen in her more familiar capacity.
The Jannie Butcher actress has been tipped to possibly make a return to the soap for its 40th anniversary celebrations next month – more than two years after she departed in December 2022 – but speaking with The Mirror, she appeared to pour cold water on those rumours.
"I'm going straight back into Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for a while, and then I probably need a little bit of time off," she said. "And then we're in talks about another theatre project at the moment, so I don't know yet. I'm biding my time. So who knows."
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Of course, it's possible that Brooks could just be playing it cool – but as it stands it looks unlikely that we'll be seeing Janine in the near future.
One EastEnders legend who definitely is returning for the 40th birthday is Ross Kemp, who will be reprising his iconic role as Grant Mitchell for a short stint building up to a significant part in the anniversary celebrations.
"I’m delighted to be returning to EastEnders as the show heads towards its 40th anniversary," Kemp said of his return. "EastEnders has always meant so much to me, so to return as the show is about to celebrate such a special anniversary, is an absolute honour."
Read more:
- EastEnders confirms Ross Kemp return as Grant Mitchell for "significant" 40th anniversary role
- Dancing on Ice star "passed out" in training after painful injury
He added: "Grant has never been far from the action and let’s just say, this time is no different as he certainly comes back with a bang."
Meanwhile, Brooks will take to the alongside professional partner Eric Redford in tonight's first episode of Dancing on Ice, where she will be competing with a celebrity line-up that also includes the likes of the Traitors star Mollie Pearce, Olympic legend Sir Steve Redgrave and former footballer Anton Ferdinand.
Speaking on Loose Women when she was first announced in the line-up, she said: "I'm going to embrace the spray tan. All I want to do is enjoy it and try not to break my leg."
And more recently she revealed that her first routine would include a lift which she described as "surprising and brilliant".
She added: "It's a fast, really fun song, and we're straight out of the gate with high energy. There's every chance I could fall over, although I don't do any of the toe pick things generally in the routine so hopefully it'll be alright."
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.
Visit our dedicated EastEnders page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.
Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.