EastEnders icon Natalie Cassidy recently announced her departure from the long-running soap after 32 years as Sonia Fowler

Actress Natalie Cassidy is to leave EastEnders, more than three decades after her first appearance on the soap as Sonia Fowler. In a statement the 41-year-old said she was "extremely sad" but also "very excited" to be moving on.

Natalie Cassidy is set to bid farewell to EastEnders, nearly 32 years since her first appearance. The 41 year old actress, better known as Sonia Fowler, will depart from Walford next month during the soap's 40th anniversary celebrations.

From teenage bullying to placing daughter Rebecca up for adoption, losing her true love Jamie Mitchell (Jack Ryder) in a road-traffic accident, to her recent imprisonment, she hasn’t had much reason to smile – which is a crying shame, if you pardon the pun.

Natalie Cassidy is saying a tearful goodbye to EastEnders and the iconic Sonia Jackson character after a remarkable 32-year stint in Albert Square. The drama doesn't end as her character, Sonia, who is expecting the child of murderer Reiss Colwell,

EastEnders fans are convinced that Sonia Fowler will be killed off after Natalie Cassidy quit the BBC soap this week after nearly 32 years on the soap as the trumpet-playing character

EastEnders is to lose one of its longest-running cast members.Natalie Cassidy has announced that she will leave the soap permanently having played Sonia Fowler for almost 32 years.Cassidy first appeared on the BBC soap when she was 10 in 1993,

EastEnders legend Natalie Cassidy to leave BBC soap after more than 30 years as Sonia Fowler - Her final scenes will air in the show’s 40th anniversary week