Natalie Cassidy recalls Steve McFadden didn't talk to her when she quit EastEnders

Natalie Cassidy has recalled how Steve McFadden "wouldn\'t talk to her" when she quit \'EastEnders\'.

The 37-year-old actress first played trumpet-loving Sonia Fowler from 1993 to 2007 before departing the soap and then re-joining briefly in 2010 and permanently in 2014 - but when she told her co-star, BBC One soap stalwart Steve (Phil Mitchell), about her decision to depart, he tried to convince her otherwise.

She said: "When I was thinking of leaving when I was 18, I remember sitting down with him. He said, \'Listen, you don\'t know what you\'ve got here, you don\'t want to go anywhere, there\'s nothing better than this, trust me.\'

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"I came back [after a meeting] and said \'Steve, Steve, I\'ve done it.\' He said, \'What have you done?\' And I said, \'I\'m leaving.\' He wouldn\'t talk to me."

Natalie has also admitted she would\'ve loved for Sonia to have hooked up with Phil - who has been portrayed by Steve since 1990 - because she enjoys working with the Albert Square legend.

Speaking on \'EastEnders: Secrets from the Square\', she added: "It\'s a strange one, but I\'m going to say it, I would have loved Sonia and Phil to get together.

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"I\'m being serious because it\'s all for selfish reasons, but I love working with Steve.

"You\'ve got to up your game, and he\'s such a nice guy to work with. He always helped me from a very young age."

\'EastEnders\' returns to the small screen on Monday (07.09.20) following an enforced break as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.