Former EastEnders star Nina Wadia has revealed she turned down the chance to return to the show last year.
Speaking to Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on This Morning, she admitted she’d been approached about going back, but had said no due to a project she had going on in Hollywood.
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Nina played formidable Zainab Masood between 2007 and 2013 before the character left to move to Pakistan.
She was married to Masood (on and off!) and they have children Syed, Shabnam, Tamwar and Kamil.
When bosses approached her about a comeback, she told Eamonn and Ruth she’d had to decline due to the fact she was working in the US at the time.
“They did [ask me back] last year actually,” she said. “But I was doing a pilot in out in the States and said I couldn’t do it.”
She added that she was “still waiting” to hear whether the pilot had been picked up.
But the good news for fans of Zainab is when Nina was quizzed about whether a return was totally out of the question, she said:
“You never say never in this business.”
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Yesterday, we revealed actress Michelle Ryan had ruled out a return to EastEnders as Zoe Slater and she advised show bosses to recast the role.
So it’s good that Nina hasn’t shut the door on her EastEnders past just yet – we’d love to see the Masood clan back in Walford.
The pilot Nina filmed is called Champions and was created by actress Mindy Kaling and Saturday Night Live star Charlie Grandy.
The Goodness Gracious Me star revealed: “I play a Persian nail salon owner who is an absolute piece of work, I love her.” She added she’d find out in about seven weeks whether it had got the green light.
But with kids Tia, 13, and Aidan, 10, Nina admitted if it does go ahead it’s going to be a logistical nightmare!
“I didn’t think it through… I genuinely don’t know what I’m going to do with my family, my life or anything,” she laughed.