Showbiz

BBC fans open-mouthed as beloved Call The Midwife star joins EastEnders – gasping ‘I didn’t recognise her’ as she makes Walford debut

BBC fans open-mouthed as beloved Call The Midwife star joins EastEnders – gasping ‘I didn’t recognise her’ as she makes Walford debut

A former Call The Midwife star has left fans open-mouthed after making a surprise appearance on EastEnders. 

In a recent instalment of the BBC soap, Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cᴀssidy) and Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer) strove to regain some semblance of normality after their tumultuous past few months. 

As viewers will remember, Sonia’s fiancé Reiss Colwell (Jonny Freeman) allowed Sonia to take the blame for the death of his comatose wife Debbie, when in reality, he was the killer. 

Reiss subsequently held Bianca captive after she discovered the truth. Luckily, she managed to escape and Bianca was freed from prison. 

However, events took a dramatic twist during the soap’s 40th anniversary in February.

After Reiss’s crimes were revealed, the murderer met his end by a falling bathtub following the catastrophic Queen Vic explosion. 

A former Call The Midwife star has left fans open-mouthed after making a surprise appearance on EastEnders this week

A former Call The Midwife star has left fans open-mouthed after making a surprise appearance on EastEnders this week 

During a recent episode, Bianca and Sonia went out for lunch, where they met a woman named Charlotte. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Charlotte has a hidden motive

During a recent episode, Bianca and Sonia went out for lunch, where they met a woman named Charlotte. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Charlotte has a hidden motive

Since then, both Bianca and Sonia have been attempting to move forward. But, the drama is far from over for the duo. 

During a recent episode, Bianca and Sonia went out for lunch, where they met a woman named Charlotte.

However, it quickly became apparent that Charlotte had a hidden motive as she made a mysterious phone call. 

However, the idenтιтy of the actress portraying Charlotte caught fans off guard as they discovered it’s Leonie Elliott in the role. 

Leonie is widely recognised for her role as Lucille Anderson in the BBC’s beloved series Call The Midwife, which she joined in 2018 and departed from in 2023.

After the season finale, Leonie took to her social media to announce her departure from the show. 

Expressing her graтιтude to fans, she said: ‘Thank you all for embracing Lucille and rocking with me on this journey, it is with a heart full of love and appreciation that I embark on pastures new.’ 

Yet the actress portraying Charlotte caught fans off guard as they quickly discovered it's Leonie Elliott

Yet the actress portraying Charlotte caught fans off guard as they quickly discovered it’s Leonie Elliott

Leonie is widely recognised for her role as Lucille Anderson in the BBC's beloved series Call The Midwife, which she joined in 2018 and departed from in 2023

Leonie is widely recognised for her role as Lucille Anderson in the BBC’s beloved series Call The Midwife, which she joined in 2018 and departed from in 2023

Read More Call The Midwife pulled from screens in middle of series in BBC schedule shake-up set to leave fans livid after cliffhanger episode article image

Viewers of the BBC soap were quick to connect the dots about Leonie’s previous role on an EastEnders Facebook fan page.

One viewer queried: ‘So who is the newcomer then?’;

While another added: ‘Definitely not who she says she is. Didn’t recognise her at first, she played Lucile in Call the Midwife.’; 

Echoing the sentiment, another added: ‘She used to be on call the midwife.’; 

While someone else exclaimed: ‘I thought it was her!’

EastEnders airs every Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.  

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