Mica Paris 'frightened' of herself on EastEnders

Mica Paris felt "frightened" of herself when she caught a glimpse of her \'EastEnders\' character.

The 51-year-old singer-and-actress has joined the BBC One soap as no-nonsense Ellie Nixon, and she has teased her character will even "intimidate" Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden).

She said: "Ellie\'s not the sweet grandma you\'re expecting her to be.

"She comes out of nowhere and is a force to be reckoned with. It takes a very powerful character to intimidate Phil, but that\'s what she does.

"I walked past the monitor on set and saw myself on the screen and I was even frightened of myself."

Mica shot a short stint on the show over the summer, amid social distancing guidelines, but she is hoping \'EastEnders\' bosses will ask her back for more.

She said: "If I\'m received well by the audience, hopefully I\'ll get the call asking me back."

But the singer has certainly impressed her daughters - Russia Mae, 14, and Monet, 29, - with her \'EastEnders\' stint.

She added to HELLO! magazine: "Monet grew up watching \'EastEnders\', so this was a milestone for her. She said, \'Wow, mum, that\'s pretty cool.\'

"When your kids say you\'re pretty cool, you know you did something right."

Mica recently admitted her \'EastEnders\' character is "formidable".

She said: "I am absolutely over the moon to be in \'EastEnders\'.

"I have been a fan since its first episode with Susan Tully being my favourite.

"My character, the formidable Ellie Nixon, is a new frontier for me as an actress - a lot of folks will see me as never before."

Mica\'s made her debut as Ellie - the adoptive grandmother of Denise Fox (Diane Parish) and Phil\'s son Raymond - last week.