Patsy Palmer enjoys relaxing Malibu beach walk ahead of dramatic EastEnders return

Patsy Palmer was all smiles as she enjoyed a relaxing stroll on the beach ahead of her return to EastEnders.

The soap star, 51, was recently spotted filming for the BBC soap after it was confirmed she would be reprising her role as Bianca Jackson. She was first cast in the role in 1993 and had many incredible storylines before she left in 1999 to spend more time with her family and concentrate on new projects.

Patsy reprised the role in May 2002 in a special entitled, EastEnders: Ricky and Bianca. In 2005, she claimed she wouldn’t return to the show but was seen back on screens in 2008. She left again in 2014 and returned for a short stint in 2019. And in recent days, it was revealed she would be coming back for another stint.

After filming on set with co-stars Shona McGarty and James Farrar, the star returned to California to unwind. She took to her Instagram to post a few pictures of her and her pals on the beach in Malibu. Patsy looked gorgeous in a bright green cardigan over a plain white t-shirt and ripped blue jeans.

She left her red locks flowing in the wind and wrapped her arms around her friends as they smiled for the camera. The stunning sunset could be seen in the background.

Patsy discussed her highly-anticipated comeback in a recent chat. The soap actress revealed viewers can expect to see a much calmer Bianca – and a different Patsy from the hard-living party girl she was in the 1990s. It is five years since Patsy was last in EastEnders, and she can’t wait to return. Now living in Malibu, California, with her husband, Richard Merkell, and four children, she said: “I must admit, when I see people in EastEnders, when I go back to work it is like putting on an old pair of slippers.

“They are family. I spent more time with them when I was in the show than with any of my own family.” Patsy, who has been open about suffering from anxiety, tells the How To Own The Room podcast: “Looking back now, everything was so much bigger at the time.

“I was very young and we were thrown into the height of fame not realising there were 22 million people watching us. At some moments in all that madness back in the 1990s it would hit you and you would feel so overwhelmed and the anxiety would kick in. If you suffer from anxiety attacks, you don’t know what is happening. For me it was very environmental and about what was happening around me and what was happening in my life at that time. People see all the awards and people think it is glamorous, but it is the hardest work I have ever had at EastEnders.”