Martine McCutcheon opens up on EastEnders ‘return’ despite Tiffany death as she sets sights on ‘posh’ new role

MARTINE McCutcheon has opened up on her EastEnders "return" despite the death of her iconic character Tiffany.

The TV star is said to have her sights on a "posh" new role - two decades after waving goodbye to the BBC One soap.

Martine, 46, has since rose to fame in Love Actually and Miss Marple, and now has her focus set on getting a new role.

She told : "I’ve been the barmaid, the maid with the biscuits and the maid in At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie.

"It’d be quite nice to be the lady on screen as well as on stage. That would be really good.”

Dishing out on whether she would return to her soap roots, Martine added: "[Tiffany] went out with a bang - literally.

"If you're going to go, that's the way. If I went back now, it just wouldn’t be the same. I had the time I was meant to have.”

Martine played Tiffany on EastEnders for four years before her character was killed off on New Year's Eve in 1998.

While she has no plans to return to the BBC One show - she has made a recent return to music, with her first album in five years.

The singer's last record, 2017's Lost and Found, reached number 17 in the UK chart, and Martine is putting together a follow-up.

She recently teamed up with her singer-songwriter husband Jack McManus for a track on the Fisherman's Friend One and All film soundtrack and the creative juices are flowing once again.

In an exclusive interview, she says: "We’ve literally just started writing new material and writing new music.

"I just want to do what I love, which is a real mixture, singing songs that need a voice to sing them, beautiful lyrics, beautiful melodies, gorgeous production.

"I just want to do great songs and we’ll see what they end up being. I definitely want to perform in front of live audiences again. This full on project of the album will probably be taking up a lot of this year."

Motherhood transformed Love Actually icon Martine's life and she put the brakes on her successful career to focus on raising her son Rafferty, seven.

The mum-of-one had a number one single with Perfect Moment and a number two debut album You Me & Us.

She then scooped an Olivier Award for her performance as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and starred opposite Hugh Grant in Christmas classic Love Actually.