EastEnders’ Lacey Turner reveals she misses playing Stacey amid return rumours

Former EastEnders star Lacey Turner has spoken about how much she misses playing Stacey Slater as rumours are spreading that she will be making a return to Albert Square soon.

Lacey is currently competing in Strictly Come Dancing, but is also releasing new memoir Gold Dust: My Life (So Far) with the Women Who Shaped Me, and has been taking part in interviews and podcasts to promote those projects (and don't forget, she's also a mum to multiple kids, including one-year-old Gipsy).

But while she's super-duper busy, Lacey has admitted that she still often thinks about Walford.

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Speaking on the Reasons to be Joyful podcast (from 5 minutes 35 seconds in), Gaby Roslin asked if there would be more Stacey and Lacey replied "I really hope so", much to Gaby's delight.

"D'you know, it's so lovely. It makes it feel like your biggest achievement. I have three children and obviously that is my biggest achievement in life, but to actually have a character that 20-something years later people still want to watch is so lovely.

"And I do struggle - I can't take the credit for it. I've been given some amazing storylines, I've been trusted with some really big, fragile storylines, so if I hadn't been given those, I'd never have been able to grow as an actress. I'd never have been able to grow with Stacey, so I can't take the credit for it.

"But I do love playing her. I miss playing her. And hopefully one day, I will play her again."

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Could that one day be soon? The latest rumours state that the character be back on EastEnders around the New Year in a guest role, before returning full-time in 2027.

Although Lacey has a lot going on at the moment, there are a few things that make this sound plausible: Sean Slater is back, and on the show Stacey has gone to live with him, and both EastEnders and Strictly are filmed at Elstree Studios.

It is important to note, however, that nothing has been officially confirmed yet.

EastEnders airs on Mondays-Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.

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