Danniella Westbrook eyes up BBC EastEnders return but has strict condition

An EastEnders icon has shared the single condition that might lure her back to the BBC soap opera - and it's quite a demand. Danniella Westbrook, 49, who initially arrived on Albert Square in 1990 as Sam Mitchell, has confessed she would only consider returning to Walford if her legendary character was given control of the Queen Vic.

Speaking about a potential return, Danniella said: "I'd only go back if they gave Sam Mitchell the Queen Vic. If they put Sam behind the bar and made her the next Peggy, I'd go back.

"But if they didn't, I'm not interested. The show needs some great matriarchs again, and they don't have loads now, do they? I know they've got Tish [Letitia Dean, who plays Sharon] and Denise. But yeah, I'd consider it if Sam Mitchell was back running The Queen Vic."

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The performer, who has portrayed Sam intermittently for over thirty years, reckons seizing control of the renowned boozer could restore some desperately needed edge to the BBC drama.

"If Sam were running the Vic, she'd be a lot like Peggy, I think," she explained to the Daily Star. "But I think she'd have poker nights and all sorts going on."

Danniella also suggested that, should she make a comeback, her interpretation of Sam would appear vastly different to the depiction audiences have witnessed recently from actress Kim Medcalf, who played the character between 2002 and 2005, before returning in 2022 and leaving in 2024. "I think if she came back, she'd have to come back a bit differently, because the other girl who plays her does it so differently," Danniella said.

"The way I play Sam and the way she plays Sam, it's like two completely different characters. Even the writing changes. What they write for her and what they write for me are like two different personalities."

Drawing comparisons between their interpretations, she continued: "Kim plays her a lot posher, not as East End, not as flirty, she's more middle-class in her version. Whereas my Sam is more brassy, more cheeky."

The Mitchell clan have remained central to EastEnders' storylines for decades, with Barbara Windsor's legendary Peggy Mitchell commanding respect from behind the Queen Vic bar for years.

Danniella believes that handing Sam similar authority could recapture some of that iconic drama. But despite the character being recast in 2002, Danniella returned to EastEnders in 2009 as producers wanted to recreate Sam’s chemistry with Patsy Palmer and Sid Owen, who had returned to the show as Ricky and Bianca.

The London-born star was last seen on EastEnders in 2016, having made a string of appearances between 2009 and 2010. Producers cut short her previous returns when her personal battles took their toll on Danniella's work.

Speaking previously, she said that the bosses on the show had seen her struggle with addiction and despite her character being recast, she saw it as a "blessing." Speaking on the Soap From The Box podcast, Danniella claimed the producers told her how they had been "dreading" calling her up with the news.

She claimed they told her: "We were dreading making the phone call. We're not offering you it because you've been so ill the last few times you've come back. We do want to look after your safety first. How do you feel about it?"

Recalling her response on the podcast, Danniella said: "Do you know what? You've just taken the decision out of my hands and I feel I can put that to bed. Maybe one day, if anything ever comes around, I hope we can all sit down and have dinner and have a lovely time about it, and look at the lovely memories."

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