EastEnders star Lucy Benjamin is set to make an explosive return to Walford this week as Lisa Fowler.
She left Walford back in 2020 with daughter Louise and granddaughter Peggy for a new life in Portugal.
However, Lisa is back in Albert Square and it appears she’s strapped for cash.
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As Peggy and Lisa get out of their cab outside of the Queen Vic, she tells the driver that she just needs to pop inside the pub to get the cash to pay him.
But they run off around the corner and hide by the community centre to avoid paying the fair.
As fans wait to see what brings Lisa back, Daily Star has taken a look inside actress Lucy Benjamin’s life away from the BBC One soap cameras.
Real name
(Image: FHM Magazine)
Lucy’s real name is Lucy Jane Baker.
Her stage name Lucy Benjamin comes from the first name of her brother.
The star’s first venture into the world of acting was actually in the British classic Doctor Who as she starred as a child actor in a 1983 episode.
In 1995, she starred in the comedy Bottom alongside British legends Adrian Edmondson and the late Rik Mayall.
EastEnders fame
(Image: BBC)
The actress joined the cast of EastEnders in 1998 as “homewrecking blonde” Lisa Shaw.
Her volatile relationship with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) became part of some of the soap’s gripping storylines.
An estimated 22 million viewers tuned in to watch Lisa confess to Phil’s attempted murder in 2001 afer an unknown assailant gunned him down, causing the third-largest power surge on record.
Other storylines included Lisa’s pregnancy with Phil’s child, in which she opted not to tell him and claimed that her partner Mark Fowler (Todd Carty), was the father.
Co-star romance
(Image: Ray Tang/REX/Shutterstock)
A fiery romantic relationship on screen with Phil led to an off-screen love story between Lucy and actor Steve McFadden.
The co-stars dated for four years between 1999 and 2003 and the pair went on to work together several times as Lucy made a return to EastEnders in 2010, 2017 and between 2019 and 2020.
Her latest comeback will see Lisa once again come face-to-face with Phil.
X Factor champion
(Image: Ken McKay/REX/Shutterstock)
In June 2006, Benjamin appeared on The X Factor: Battle of the Stars, which she won.
She was mentored by judge Louis Walsh.
During the first episode which broadcasted on May 31, 2006, Sharon Osbourne accidentally revealed that Lucy was pregnant.
Lucy smiled while presenter Kate Thornton commented: “I don’t think you wanted that announced tonight, did you?”
Family life
(Image: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)
Lucy married Richard Taggart, an oil businessman, at Babington House, Somerset back in 2006.
The couple met during a flight to Dubai and got engaged three months later.
In 2016, Lucy told the Mirror doesn’t allow her daughters to watch EastEnders because it’s too depressing.
The actress said at the time feels the heavy storylines would be too much for Bessie, and Rosie, to handle.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
