Samantha Womack slams 'rejection' from soap bosses over EastEnders exit
Actress Samantha Womack has opened up on her exit from EastEnders as she revealed it was not her decision to say goodbye to her beloved Ronnie Mitchell role
Samantha Womack has hit out at soap bosses for being "rejected" as she reflected on her exit from EastEnders. The actress, who won over fans with her portrayal of Ronnie Mitchell, made her debut on the BBC soap in 2007.
She appeared alongside Rita Simons, who played her close sister Roxy. Tragically, the beloved sister duo were brutally killed off after Ronnie's second wedding to Jack Branning.
The decision for both Ronnie and Roxy to bow out of Albert Square came when Sean O'Connor took over as executive producer. Now, Samantha has revealed she felt "rejected" by the new boss as she confessed it was not her or Rita's decision to leave the soap.
She admitted: "I don't really understand what happened, one producer was leaving and another was coming in, I don't know what went on." Leaving Walford felt like Samantha was "losing a family" as she struggled to come to terms with life without it.
Samantha compared the loss to a "bereavement" and revealed it made her lose "stability". "But the thing that was the most painful - and it really was painful - was that me and Rita loved feeling like we belonged there," she told the Daily Mail.
"Then to be rejected, and I know that's emotional but that's what it was, it hit us both so hard." However, Samantha has been able to look at it differently now time has passed.
She said she is now thankful as leaving the soap opened up doors for other opportunities. Since leaving EastEnders, the actress has focused on her theatre career and landed a number of high profile roles.
In 2019, she travelled around the UK for The Girl on the Train and also played Morticia Addams in the musical, The Addams Family. She has since moved to Valencia.
However, things haven't been easy for Samantha as she underwent gruelling treatment for breast cancer after being diagnosed in August 2022, which has changed her outlook on life.
'I feel so much more enlightened,' she told the Mirror. 'I know myself better, I feel humbler, I feel calmer.' Samantha added: 'After my year-and-a-half of treatment, I started turning down a lot of stuff – and I didn't have the bank balance to match that confidence, trust me."
Having announced she was cancer-free in December 2022, Samantha explained: 'It was me saying the word 'no' and my bank account creaking.
"But there was empowerment in that because I thought, 'OK, I need to go through this, spend time with myself and figure out stuff that I've never figured out – maybe stuff I've buried under a rug.''
Samantha learned she had a fast-spreading, Grade 3 invasive duct carcinoma and her treatment – a lumpectomy and lymph node removal, followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy – couldn't wait.
The Macmillan Support Line offers confidential support to people living with cancer and their loved ones. If you need to talk, call us on 0808 808 0000.
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