EastEnders' Michelle Collins to 'take break from BBC soap' as she eyes up new career

As EastEnders’ villain Cindy Beale, Michelle Collinsis used to dropping bombshells… but now she’s set to tread the boards as the ultimate blonde bombshell, Marilyn Monroe.

Michelle is taking a break from the BBC soap to star in a one-woman show at the Edinburgh Festival next month. And the dark comedy Motorhome Marilyn has been a labour of love for Michelle, 63. She said: “It’s been years in the making so I can’t wait to get it out there but I’m very nervous.

"Think Shirley Valentine meets the Coen Brothers meets Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire. It’s one of the most terrifying things I’ve done. My lines are in my handbag everywhere I go.”

The play, inspired by Michelle’s real-life encounter with a woman known as Motorhome Marilyn, is about a Monroe-obsessed actress’ heartbreaking failure to live up to the icon’s fame and beauty.

Michelle has big dreams for the show. She said: “I’m hoping it will eventually go on TV.” But she assures ‘Enders fans that she will be back on Albert Square after a month-long break.

Michelle joined EastEnders as scheming Cindy in 1988 but left 10 years later and went on to appear in Coronation Street and Casualty. Cindy’s cheating ways – mainly at the expense of ex-husband Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) – earned her a reputation as an Albert Square homewrecker.

She even tried to kill Ian before fans were led to believe that she had died during childbirth in prison. But when Cindy returned to Walford in 2023 after a 25-year break, it was revealed she had actually been put into witness protection under a new identity.

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She is now also the ex-wife of George Knight (Colin Salmon) and has sparked plenty of drama since her return by having an affair with George’s estranged son, Junior (Micah Balfour). At the Tric Awards last month, Michelle said of her character: “There’s been lots of trials and tribulations with the men around.

“People are seeing a different side of Cindy… it’s exhausting being a b**ch all the time. She’s been on her own for a while, and it’s good for her. She’s being a good granny. I can’t believe I’m saying that about Cindy.”

Michelle’s success back on the Square is being reflected in her bank balance. Accounts show she has almost £200,000 cash reserves in It Worx Limited, which handles her TV work. This is up from £20,000 before her new deal on EastEnders.

This comes after Michelle revealed that her dramatic comeback as the iconic Cindy Beale in EastEnders has paid off not just creatively, but financially, with her personal company, It Worx Limited, seeing a major surge in earnings following her return to Albert Square.

The actress, who founded the company in 1996 to manage income from her television work, saw its cash reserves jump from just £20,000 to nearly £200,000 in the year ending March 2024.

According to newly published Companies House records as seen by The Sun, she now faces a Corporation Tax bill of £69,694, suggesting her earnings from the period were roughly five times that amount. Despite the financial success, Collins admitted she initially felt uncertain about reprising her role as Cindy after 25 years off-screen.

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