Actress Jacqueline Jossa reprises her role as Lauren Branning<\/a> over the festive season, with scenes in Paris, France being shown on New Year\u2019s Day 2024.<\/p>\n We last saw Lauren earlier in the year<\/a> when she nearly had a romantic reconciliation with her first love Peter Beale<\/a> (Thomas Law) as they continue to co-parent son Louie.<\/p>\n However, the discovery that Peter\u2019s mother Cindy Beale<\/a> (Michelle Collins) was secretly alive caused Lauren to flee.<\/p>\n The New Year episode sees Lauren and her cousin Penny Branning<\/a> (Kitty Castledine) decide to return to Walford due to the events of the evening in Paris.<\/p>\n As the week continues, Penny makes her return to Walford, but what has happened to Lauren?<\/p>\n In a new interview shared with RadioTimes.com<\/a> and other press, actress Jacqueline Jossa lifts the lid on Lauren Branning\u2019s return.<\/p>\n What\u2019s it like being back in EastEnders full-time?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s strange because being back at EastEnders feels exactly the same and really different all at once! It\u2019s amazing to be back, and personally, it\u2019s been the perfect time for me to return.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve loved every minute so far, and it feels like coming home. What\u2019s different is that there\u2019s a whole new Square set, as it\u2019s been rebuilt since I worked here before, and there are a bunch of new people to get to know. I feel like I\u2019ve bonded with them already, and it\u2019s only been a little while, but it\u2019s amazing how quickly you feel like family with people here.\u201d<\/p>\n Have you been watching the show since you left?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always watched on and off, but I came back fully as a mega fan for Lola and Jay\u2019s storyline. Stories like that are what EastEnders does best. I think Chris Clenshaw has done wonderful things, and the best is yet to come. It\u2019s a great group of people who are so lovely, kind and incredibly talented \u2013 it\u2019s a magical mix.\u201d<\/p>\n Were you excited to find out Lauren would be returning at the same time as her cousin Penny?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cI am such an EastEnders fan girl that I was going through many different scenarios in my mind and wondering what might happen.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s great to have Penny in the mix because I was wondering who Lauren would have that girly back-and-forth with since Abi is no longer with us. Then \u2013 boom \u2013 along came Penny!\u201d<\/p>\n Can you tell us what Lauren has been up to since we last saw her?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s just spent Christmas in Paris with Penny and Louie, but she has had boys on her mind\u2026 Well, one boy in particular. [laughs] She\u2019s also been feeling pretty homesick.\u201d<\/p>\n She was really angry with Peter when she last saw him. Is he still in her bad books?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThey are co-parents, and they have a son together, so the relationship is amicable. I think there is a lot of love there, and I don\u2019t think Lauren will ever lose that because Peter is her first love.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you think there\u2019s any hope for them romantically?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s EastEnders, so I have no idea if they could make it work, but the will they\/won\u2019t they is fun, and the audience hopes they will at some point. But then, equally, it\u2019s an interesting choice to just have them co-parenting, so I would be happy to explore both. I feel like Lauren and Peter just go together like peanut butter and jelly.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s the dynamic like between Lauren and Penny?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so great. Penny is this firecracker, and she doesn\u2019t care what people think. Penny does what Penny wants to do, and so there is a really interesting dynamic with Lauren. Lauren used to be like that, but there\u2019s been a change and a growth in her. But Penny is an uncontrollable character with lots of fire in her belly, which is so much fun to play opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n Have you enjoyed working with Kitty Castledine to create this new partnership between Lauren and Penny?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cIt was like magic when I met Kitty because I immediately felt so close to her. We\u2019ve had so much fun filming together, and she is so incredible \u2013 it\u2019s been such a joy. I think one of the reasons that I\u2019ve enjoyed being back so much is that I\u2019m in this strong female power duo with Kitty on-screen. I absolutely love her, and she\u2019s really good as Penny. She\u2019s new to this EastEnders world, so it\u2019s been fun to take her under my wing, but she\u2019s been teaching me things as well. That\u2019s what I love about this show \u2013 you are always learning something. It\u2019s just amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n Read More<\/strong><\/p>\n What\u2019s different about Lauren now she\u2019s had a few years of living away from Walford?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cGrowth! She seems to have grown. There is still this unspoken and underlying thing that she\u2019s Max\u2019s daughter and she always will be. Lauren always fights against that to try to become a better person. She doesn\u2019t want to be like her dad, and that\u2019s really apparent.<\/p>\n \u201cLouie is her main focus, and she\u2019s fiercely protective of him. I want to say she doesn\u2019t lose her head as much, but I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s true! I think she can navigate it slightly differently. She\u2019s grown up a little bit \u2013 she\u2019s not that 20-year-old girl who screams and shouts at everybody. That\u2019s still there in the mix, though.\u201d<\/p>\n Who are you most looking forward to working with that you haven\u2019t worked with before?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cI love The Knight family. Harriet Thorpe and Colin Salmon are so wonderful, and I\u2019ve been lucky enough to have a couple of scenes with them, and it\u2019s so cool. I love them together as Elaine and George, and they are beautiful and kind people who have made me feel so comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s been your favourite thing about coming back so far?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cSeeing everyone again and going back to feeling like a 22-year-old again. It\u2019s really brought back a spark in me. I am picking up my scripts, and they are so good that I\u2019m desperate to know what\u2019s happening next. I am so happy to be here, and it\u2019s such a nice feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n Read More:<\/strong><\/p>\n EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.<\/strong><\/p>\n Visit our dedicated\u00a0EastEnders<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0page\u00a0<\/strong>for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers.\u00a0<\/strong>If you\u2019re looking for more to watch, check out our\u00a0<\/strong>TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310 \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Lauren Branning returns to our screens this festive season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":41626,"template":"","categories":[1,2,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/eastenders-jacqueline-jossa-on-lauren-return-shes-maxs-daughter-and-always-will-be-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/eastenders-jacqueline-jossa-on-lauren-return-shes-maxs-daughter-and-always-will-be-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/eastenders-jacqueline-jossa-on-lauren-return-shes-maxs-daughter-and-always-will-be-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/eastenders-jacqueline-jossa-on-lauren-return-shes-maxs-daughter-and-always-will-be-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/eastenders-jacqueline-jossa-on-lauren-return-shes-maxs-daughter-and-always-will-be-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/eastenders-jacqueline-jossa-on-lauren-return-shes-maxs-daughter-and-always-will-be-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/eastenders-jacqueline-jossa-on-lauren-return-shes-maxs-daughter-and-always-will-be-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Lauren Branning returns to our screens this festive season.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/41625"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/456491-2d51320.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"456491,EastEnders\\"\/")
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