OI SON, what are you doing hun?
Long-time EastEnders actress Natalie Cassidy has announced she is set to leave the BBC One soap in a shock move.
Her exit scenes are of course, going to run in line with the highly-anticipated 40th Anniversary celebrations.
This may sound exciting for some soap fans, but this long-time viewer is worried.
Many of us Walford loyalists know that something dramatic is bound to happen and most likely, one (or more) characters could be killed off.
But killing off Sonia Fowler, a meme-worthy character of three decades would not be the way to go.
Simply put, our Sonia is a mainstay, a constant, and an institution like the gold bust of Queen Victoria.
Killing Sonia would be like killing Tracy (Jane Slaughter), the heart of EastEnders, unnecessary and downright cruel.
She hasn’t always appeared constantly, but we know that she’s been there as part of the fabric of Albert Square.
Vile Reiss (Jonny Freeman) recently started a ‘Save Our Sonia’ campaign to try and prove her innocence when she was in prison.
I may hate that character with all my soul, but give me that petition and I’ll sign it quicker than you can say the world ‘surrogate’.
Now I cannot help but think that maybe the petition might just seep its way through the fourth wall as fans fight to save the beloved character.
What a dramatic life Sonia has had, from her pregnancy aged 15 to the death of her young boyfriend Jamie Mitchell in 2002.
We always remember her problematic marriage to Martin, only for it to end when she came out as bisexual after a relationship with Naomi Julien (Petra Letang).
Then of course she was arrested on suspicion of murdering her own former mother-in-law Pauline Fowler (Wendy Richard).
Let’s not forget that apart from the Brannings, Sonia is one of the last remaining links we have to the legendary Dot Cotton (June Brown).
Sonia Fowler has featured in EastEnders since 1993, and after starring in thousands of episodes, has been featured in storylines ranging from teenage pregnancy to a cancer scare. Here are some of her biggest.
I also remember when Sonia stole money from her step-grandmother after she was blackmailed by Martin’s hit and run victim. Good times.
All this was mixed in with a penchant for playing a random instrument, the Trumpet.
Over the years she has infuriated residents all over Walford with her playing – like, of course she did!
From her distinct East End voice to her chaotic storylines, her antics on Albert Square have cemented Sonia as a camp icon.
Simply put, our Sonia is a mainstay, a constant, and an institution like the gold bust of Queen Victoria
I strongly urge bosses NOT to kill off this legendary soap figure-head.
Please do not deprive us of more iconic scenes yet to come, simply to get some short-term shock factor for the Anniversary.
A better idea would be to kill off a dislikable character like Reiss instead to give the audience the satisfaction we are craving with that storyline combined with an ‘event’ feel.
Then in a state of shock, Sonia needs to get out of Walford and she decides to go and live with her mother Carol.
This way, we have a potential opportunity for a return further down the line, rather than a death some have regretted like Ronnie and Roxy.
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EastEnders continues on BBC One and is available to stream on iPlayer.
HER impressive career has seen her go from takeaway manager and model to reluctant reality star, DJ and This Morning presenter.
But Ashley James says there’s been one constant niggle throughout the years – her big boobs.
At the age of 14, after gaining a scholarship to boarding school, she developed a 30GG chest, causing her a whole heap of trouble.
And now the former Made in Chelsea and Celebrity Big Brother star has confessed she really dislikes her boobs – after being told to hide them away in her younger days and then being urged to flaunt them for TV.
The presenter, more recently a regular on This Morning, said for 23 years her chest has drawn too much attention – even leading her to be accused of being both sex-mad and too prudish.
Revealing the shadow they have cast over her life, she said she was given a detention at school for hugging her brother because even teachers became preoccupied with her curvy figure.
Now, after previously having to switch from baggy clothing to conceal her shape to cleavage displays, she says: “Now I don’t give a f***. I’m absolutely sick to death of feeling like I have to present myself in a way that makes society not judge me.
“When I was breastfeeding it was this constant narrative of ‘Stop attention- seeking, put it away’. These are the same comments that I had as a 14-year-old girl.”
She said of her boobs: “I didn’t pay for them, I didn’t want them, I don’t even particularly like them – and at the time I didn’t particularly like breastfeeding but my son wouldn’t take a bottle.
“At no point in my life, whether I was 14 or now at 37, do I want people to look at my boobs.”
Ashley grew up in a working class family in Northumberland. Her mum was a hairdresser and her father a farmer-turned-truck driver, who wanted to send her to boarding school because he didn’t want her to be dependent on any man.
She won a scholarship to prestigious Mowden Hall boarding school, where the girls were outnumbered 14 to one by the boys.
Ashley, speaking on the It Can’t Just Be Me podcast, said: “I think it started when I was 14. I was the first intake of girls, 37 of us versus 500 boys. And it was also the year that I got boobs and I was suddenly a 30GG, but I was also a child in every sense. I wasn’t sexual.
“There was like whispers that people fancy me. It was just really gross, sexualised – I remember boys would run up to me being like ‘Are you shaven?’ It was just really sexual and graphic.
“Adults, including teachers, would almost treat me like I was this kind of sex-mad person.
“I got detention for hugging my brother because they were like ‘Well, will people in town know it’s your brother? What are they going to think?”
“I was taught to ‘cover up if you want to be taken seriously.’
“So I’d say that I spent my early teens and into my twenties probably also being a bit misogynistic because I had been taught ‘if you want to be taken seriously you don’t dress certain ways, and you don’t wear make-up and you don’t do all of these overtly feminine things.
Adults, including teachers, would almost treat me like I was this kind of sex-mad person
Ashley James
“I was a teenager in the Cruel Intentions era, so I very much was like ‘I’m going to be like Reese Witherspoon.’
“So my virginity and my worth is all defined on me being holier than thou.”
But she added that also drew comments, saying: “At school when I tried to kind of dress in a way that I wouldn’t have attention on me, I remember being called prudish.”
After finishing school, Ashley went on to university and then to work at BBC Radio Cumbria, as well as further jobs as a model for Abercrombie & Fitch, and a manager of Itsu.
But at the restaurant, aged 25, she became sick of City guys saying, “What’s a pretty girl like you working behind a till?”
After quitting, she enrolled on a TV presenting course, where a fellow student who was an extra on Made in Chelsea suggested she came along.
Although Ashley admits she looked down on reality TV as “rubbish”, she decided she might learn something about television and gain contacts, so she went along – and ended up being invited on to the show.
“I remember thinking ‘How funny will it be to my mates who know that I hate reality TV if I’m on it’ – I really thought it would be that one-off thing.
“When I got an agent in the Made in Chelsea days, it was suddenly like ‘Sex sells, you need to dress more sexy’.
“So I was suddenly thrust the other way where I was being told my success depended on me sexing it up.
“The point that I left one agent was when they were really pushing me to have a famous boyfriend.
“They were like ‘If you want to be famous, you need a famous boyfriend’. I was like ‘I don’t want to be famous, I just want to be successful’.”
As her profile grew, she was linked to David Walliams, although neither she nor the former Britain’s Got Talent judge ever confirmed the romance.
She did date comedian and host, Matt Richardson, best known for co-hosting The Xtra Factor alongside Caroline Flack, but went on to reconnect via a dating app with former university friend Tommy Adams who was also on a graduate scheme when they were with clothing brand Abercrombie & Fitch.
The couple began a relationship in 2019 and now have two children, Alfie, four, and Ada, 22 months.
But even in motherhood Ashley said she found herself powerless to stop people focusing attention on her looks and clothes whatever she wore.
She said: “I remember a brand saying ‘We wouldn’t work with Ashley, we need someone who’s more feminist’. I was like ‘I am a feminist’.
“I’m literally just wearing clothes on a body. And also ‘Am I not allowed to date?’
“So then I allowed a lot of men to date me in secret.
“I felt like I didn’t want them to have the heat on them.
“I feel so sad, the amount of women who contact me saying ‘I would love to wear that but I end up wearing clothes that I don’t like because I don’t want people to look at my boobs’.
“It’s like ‘isn’t that so sad that as women, and as grown women, people feel like they can’t wear certain things because they don’t want people to assume that their morality or their sexuality is based on their body type. It’s so mad.”
GASLIGHTING is one of the most insidious forms of emotional abuse – a behaviour that leaves you constantly questioning your memories, instincts, and even your sense of self.
Because it’s often subtle and gradual, you can find yourself trapped before you even realise what’s happening.
But recognising the key red flags to watch out for can help to inform and protect you from manipulation.
On Thursday’s episode of Love Island All Stars, Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu was criticised by fans for “gaslighting” Curtis Pritchard.
The backlash came after the pair got into a heated argument, which she then appeared to dismiss everything and ended with a kiss.
Other Love Island fans joined the conversation on X, formerly known as Twitter.
One person wrote: “I don’t think Curtis is necessarily in the right but Ekin-Su has just given a gaslighting masterclass the last 2 days it’s actually scary to watch.”
A second added: “That Ekin and Curtis argument was insane bc [because] how that go from ‘f**k you if you don’t think I’m authentic’ to ‘I cut my mum out of my life once’ to then kissing, I’ve got whiplash.”
Another added: “Naaa she’s manipulative and toxic!!! #LoveIslandAllStars Ekin is calculated and crazy! CURTIS RUN.”
Nikki Bradley MBE, Director of Services at Women’s Aid said: “Gaslighting is designed to make you doubt your sense of reality.
“This can look like your partner denying facts, dismissing things that happened, or trivialising your feelings. It’s a tactic to avoid taking responsibility by shifting the blame onto you.
“Experiencing gaslighting can leave you questioning what’s real and what’s not and doubting your own judgement or abilities.
“But remember you are not alone, and it’s not your fault.”
Here, psychologist Emma Kenny reveals to YASMIN HARISHA the red flags you should never ignore and the ones that are difficult to spot.
If you try to share how you feel and they dismiss you as ‘too sensitive’ or ‘overreacting,’ they’re deliberately undermining your emotional reality.
Over time, you may start second-guessing whether your feelings are valid at all.
You remember a specific event one way, but they insist it happened differently, or didn’t happen at all.
This constant distortion of facts can make you doubt your own memory and question your capacity to recall what really went on.
Whether it’s ‘accidentally’ losing your keys or deleting an important message, these small acts chip away at your confidence.
Because they’re minor, you might dismiss them as carelessness, until you realise there’s a pattern eroding your trust in yourself.
By Emma Kenny, a psychologist
Gaslighting rarely starts with huge, obvious acts of manipulation. Instead, it creeps up on you through tiny, seemingly insignificant comments and behaviours that add up over time.
You may find yourself making excuses for your partner’s actions, assuming they’re stressed, or that you’re being oversensitive, and meanwhile, your self-esteem slips away bit by bit.
This slow erosion of your confidence is what makes gaslighting so hard to recognise, by the time you identify the pattern, you may already be deeply entangled in doubt.
If reading these signs feels uncomfortably familiar, remember you are not alone and you are not to blame.
Reaching out for help, whether from a trusted friend, a support group, or a professional, can be the first step toward reclaiming the clarity and self-trust you deserve.
No one has the right to distort your reality, and understanding the hallmarks of gaslighting is the key to escaping its grip.
Remember, you are NOT going mad, but someone is working very hard to make you believe that you are.
For further advice and support, visit Loverespect.co.uk a Women’s Aid website for 14-24 year olds to learn about abuse and unhealthy relationships.
Gaslighters often aim to remove your support network, making you rely on them more and more.
If your partner discourages you from confiding in loved ones or going out with friends, it can keep you trapped in their version of reality.
They may recruit friends or family to question your memory, back up their side of the story, or insist you’re at fault.
This extra layer of ‘evidence’ makes you feel cornered and escalates the self-doubt you’re already experiencing.
When you confront them about an issue, they expertly twist the conversation until it’s somehow your fault.
Suddenly you find yourself apologising, even though you came to them with a valid concern.
Sometimes, gas-lighters deliberately cause drama, like stirring arguments out of thin air or constantly changing plans, so you never feel settled.
When you’re perpetually on edge, it’s harder to think rationally or see through manipulation.
Cutting remarks cloaked as banter or sarcasm can be a sneaky way to chip away at your confidence.
Because they label it as ‘just a joke,’ you feel guilty for taking offence, and it gets harder to call out the toxic behaviour.
This is a classic tactic that destroys your self-esteem, comment by comment.
If they consistently leave out important details or pretend, they never received your messages, it’s a form of control.
Depriving you of facts can leave you feeling confused, uncertain, and more reliant on them for clarity.
In public, they’re charming and attentive, but in private, they’re cold, condescending, or cruel.
This Jekyll-and-Hyde approach can make you doubt yourself because onlookers only see the ‘nice’ version, leaving you feeling isolated in your experiences.
By saying you’re ‘crazy,’ ‘paranoid,’ or ‘imagining things,’ they paint you as the problematic one.
This can leave you fearful of speaking up, convinced that others will believe their version of events rather than yours.
HORROR fans are desperate to see The Monkey after its latest trailer was banned from TV for being ‘excessively violent’.
Stephen King adaptations have always pushed the boundaries, but this one has gone too far for four major networks, which all refused to air the clip.
The film’s distributor, NEON, revealed the rejections on social media.
A company boss posted redacted emails from network executives who outright rejected the trailer.
“The spot below would not be permitted in any programming,” one email read, with a huge section blacked out before citing ‘excessive violence’ as the reason.
Another network had no interest in negotiating, stating bluntly: “Not suitable for our audiences, even with restrictions.”
A third response was even harsher, saying: “There are issues with every scene in the spot.”
The backlash has only fuelled more hype, with horror fans desperate to see what’s causing all the outrage.
One responded: “This is the best marketing you could ask for for the film.”
Another added: “NEON really is the best in the game at film marketing.”
The Monkey, directed by Osgood Perkins (Longlegs), is based on King’s short story with the same name from Skeleton Crew.
The film follows twin brothers who uncover a sinister toy monkey in their attic, unleashing a wave of horrific deaths.
The A-list line up so far includes Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, and Sarah Levy.
The banned trailer features some pretty disturbing imagery, after starting with a scene where a hand can be seen winding up a toy monkey.
After that there is a shot of a swimmer about to dive into a pool, unaware that a microwave has been dropped near to it, hinting that a gruesome electrocution is imminent.
A person runs frantically pushing a pram – seemingly with a baby in it – on fire.
A child bludgeons someone to death with a hammer.
Blood pours out of a woman’s eyes. A character coughs up a sliced off fingertip.
A person sprints out of their house, with their head engulfed in flames.
Horror fans are already predicting this will be one of the most shocking King adaptations yet.
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