EastEnders spoilers: Tamzin Outhwaite reveals script secret after Ben Mitchell bombshell
TAMZIN OUTHWAITE has revealed how the EastEnders writers kept her classic character return from co-stars.
EastEnders: Mel's suspicious phone call
The elusive femme-fatale Mel Owen (played by Tamzin Outhwaite) exited Albert Square 16 years ago, when she fled to Portugal.
Her return to Albert Square this evening showed her looking for Ben Mitchell (Harry Reid), in an investigation relating to the New Year’s Day heist.
Viewers also saw Mel reunited with Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), and Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean).
After 16 years away from Walford, Tamzin’s return was treated with the utmost secrecy everywhere, even to the rest of the cast.
EastEnders: Mel has returned to the Square looking for Ben
EastEnders: Mel Owen did some investigation in her first night back in Walford
I was pretty much under a blanket in the back of the car
With her plot line shrouded in mystery, Tamzin exposed the the extreme lengths taken BBC bosses to keep Mel’s return confidential.
“At the very beginning, my return was all quite top secret,” the 47-year-old told What’s On TV.
“My name in all the scripts wasn’t Mel; it was Phoenix. Rising from the ashes is what I assume!”
She was even quite literally kept under wraps for press photos: “I was pretty much under a blanket in the back of the car so people wouldn’t see me.”
EastEnders: Tamzin Outhwaite reprises her role of Mel Owen
EastEnders: Mel Owen reunites with former husband Ian Beale
However the return didn’t feel too overwhelming for Tamzin: “It has felt like coming home a bit. I think that’s because so much of learning my trade happened here, and it was three and a half years.”
Despite the enormous amount of new cast members, Tamzin still recognises a lot of old faces: “There’s lots of new people that I don’t know, but crew-wise, it’s exactly the same camera men, and that’s really heart-warming.
“So in a way, it’s like nothing has changed, but in another way everything’s changed.”
Mel Owen is best known for being married to Ian Beale, and Steve Owen (Martin Kemp) from 1998-2002.
EastEnders continues tomorrow at 8pm on BBC One.