EastEnders’ Charlie Brooks says Janine is set to ‘take back what’s hers’ as she teases dramatic return

7 September 2021, 12:45 | Updated: 7 September 2021, 12:48

By Naomi Bartram

@naomibartram

We caught up with Charlie Brooks as her character Janine Butcher makes her dramatic return to EastEnders...

EastEnders’ Charlie Brooks has teased what Janine Butcher could be getting up to after arriving on the Square this week.

The notorious villain has finally returned to Walford after seven years away from the soap.

But it looks like she’s already up to her old tricks, as she was seen pretending to be Dr Judith Bernstein in her first scene.

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On Monday, Zack Hudson (James Farrar) was looking after his nephew Albie while waiting for a doctor's appointment.

As the doctor entered the room, Zack shared a few flirtatious comments before she turned around and revealed herself to be Janine.

Opening up about what we can expect from Janine, actress Charlie, 40, told us: “In true Janine style, she’s always scamming somewhere and so this one happens to be a scam with a doctor.

“But more will be revealed, nothing is straight forward with Janine but I think she’s a survivor and it’s the only way she knows how to you know.”

She went on to tell us that Janine is determined to get her daughter Scarlett back, after Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) recently visited the social worker to try and become the youngster’s carer.

“I think primarily when she comes back it’s about getting her daughter back,” she said.

“It’s about taking what belongs to her basically and about her fight for that, but I think we’ll definitely explore where she’s been and what she’s been up to throughout my time on the show.”

And we can expect a lot of fireworks over the coming months, with Janine coming to blows with some old enemies on the Square.

Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t take long for Janine and Kat to get into an argument over Scarlett.

Opening up about filming scenes alongside actress Jessie Wallace, Charlie told us: “Jessie is a very strong and brilliant actress and seeing those two characters together is always going to be fireworks.

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“They both have their own issues and opinions of each other and I think Kat has a genuine authenticity about her, whereas Janine struggles to show that so I think that’s always going to be quite fiery.”

When Heart.co.uk asked whether there was a possible romance on the horizon, Charlie hinted she’d like to see her character find love.

“I always like exploring that side of Janine, to see what she’s looking for and what kind of person will help her drop her barriers.

“I think the closest she got to it was Ryan and then he messed it all up with Stacey having the affair, having the baby so she of course goes on the attack, her need for revenge is quite strong.”

We can’t wait to see what Janine has in store over the next few months…

EastEnders continues tonight, September 7 at 7.30pm on BBC One.