Ruby’s RETURN!

Louisa tells us how she’s thrilled to be back in Walford…

Hi Louisa! How did you come to be back on Albert Square?

Originally, my agent rang and told me Eastenders had called. I was like, “What do you mean? About what?” Then [executive consultant] John Yorke called me and said, “We have a massive plot coming up, and we’d love you to come back to do it.”

So he outlined the whole storyline to you?

Yeah! He said it’d be nice to team Ruby back up with Stacey, but also that this happens to my character pretty much straight away. As an actress, all you want is to go into a show and have a huge storyline.

Had you ever thought what Ruby would be doing now, since we last saw her back in 2006?

Of course. Ruby is nearly

30, so I thought she’d be married with kids, and coming back with a family. She left with all her dad’s money and moved to her house in Essex, so you kind of drum up this story in your head of what’s happened to her – and it wasn’t anything at all like

I had expected!

What was it like reuniting with Lacey [Turner, aka Stacey]?

So nice! When we first saw each other in the make-up room, we giggled like schoolgirls for the first 10 minutes! It was weird, because I hadn’t seen her for six or seven years, but within minutes it was back to day one.

Did you do a lot of research for this story?

Yeah, I think I had to. The research team at Eastenders has been working heavily with Rape Crisis. They’ve overseen every single script and given notes. I’ve had someone on hand to ask, “How would you feel in this situation?” That’s been great. I’m also going into a centre in south London to speak to women that have been sexually assaulted.

How do you hope this storyline is received?

It’s sold as Ruby’s rape storyline, but it’s heavily split between her and the guys. It’s covered from a man’s point of view too, which makes it different from a usual rape storyline. It’s about consent. I hope that it makes people think about their own experiences.