BBC EastEnders legend Michelle Collins admits 'the job that no-one wants'

it's been less than a year since the dramatic return of villainous Cindy Beale to Albert Square after a quarter of a century away from EastEnders. However, Michelle is still on top form - and, as she recounted her character's "rollercoaster ride" through the Square, it seemed as if she had never been away.

Chatting exclusively to Express.co.uk, she admitted it had been "nerve-wracking" to reprise her character, as the Queen Vic pub "always feels like a stage". However, she's back and better than ever, as she's now opened her own production company too.

She admitted she was astonished to have beaten off the competition for the title of Best Actress in a TV Series - especially as she was going head to head with Michelle Keegan, whose drama Fool Me Once was watched for a record-breaking 238 million hours in the first week of this year. Her other competitors had included Kaya Scodelario of The Gentlemen, Jennifer Metcalfe and Jorgie Porter of Hollyoaks, ex-Corrie star Suranne Jones of Vigil, Kate Ford of Coronation Street, Michelle Hardwick of Emmerdale and Ambika Mod of One Day.

Meanwhile, she was also pitted against one of her co-stars, Natalie Cassidy, who first started in the soap as Sonia Fowler way back in 1993. "I didn't expect the win] - you've got Michelle Keegan there and you've got loads of other great actresses, so it's lovely," she confided.

Since returning to the soap, she's wasted no time in getting to know all the newcomers, including Bobby Brazier and her on-screen daughter Molly Rainford (Anna Knight), who'll be working alongside her for an upcoming drug-spiking storyline. "Actually, all the young ones are really lovely," she confided.

Meanwhile, Michelle has ambitions of clinching more awards this year, revealing that she'll also be attending the Radio Times Soap Awards in Manchester, and the NTAs. Of course, there's another major award about to be announced on the national stage too - and that's who will become this year's new Prime Minister.

If Michelle could pick any cast member of EastEnders to become the PM instead of Keir Starmer or Rishi Sunak, who would she be rooting for?

"Would you really want an EastEnders person being Prime Minister?" she exclaimed.

The actress added: "Isn't it the kind of job that no-one wants, really? It's a really tough job with really long hours. You never stop, do you?"

She then reflected before confessed: "But then we have really long hours [at EastEnders] as well!"

Although she wouldn't be drawn on which of her co-stars would be best equipped for the role, the Cindy Beale star did hint at her own voting preferences on election day.

She exclaimed: "We need a change anyway - change is as good as anything."

Meanwhile, Cindy has had a "rollercoaster" ride through the soap.

The adulterous homewrecker never failed to have viewers on the edge of their seats as she first hired a hitman to kill her husband, then went to jail and ended up being presumed dead after complications struck in childbirth.

However, in a sensational twist last year, she made the return no-one had been expecting, revealing that she'd been in a witness protection programme and had been alive all these years in secret.

Despite such intense storylines in the past, Michelle admitted last night that her favourite one that she's done to date has actually been her comeback.

Meanwhile, viewers should stay tuned for a hard-hitting drug-spiking storyline coming up in the very near future, with Cindy at the centre of it....