EastEnders' Bonnie Langford doesn't want Carmel Kazemi to get back together with Masood Ahmed.
Bonnie Langford as Carmel Kazemi
The 53-year-old actress - who plays the market inspector - is thrilled that Zaair Kazemi has decided to reprise his role as the beloved postman but she doesn't want bosses to reunite them romantically as she'd like to see her alter ego break free of Max Branning's (Jake Wood) clutches by herself.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, she said: "I think that's probably a little bit too fairy story. I think ultimately as well I think what happens is that if you're constantly the victim in the rescue corner or the victim corner you don't actually create your own future for yourself.
"So I think it's actually really good if Carmel gets the chance to, yes she'll get hurt, but I think if she then actually forges her own strength after that and then rises from the ashes; I think that's actually a stronger more empowering for women, particularly of a certain age which happens a lot.
"What I'm really pleased about with the Max storyline what we were very keen to display is that it didn't look ridiculous, that it didn't look desperate."
The festive storyline saw Max unleash evil on Albert Square and, although Bonnie doesn't want her character to get caught up in his mess, she has teased that it won't end well for her character.
She explained: "I think Carmel is inadvertently involved. She sees the best in Max - she sees the best in everybody as much as she can. Maybe she's seeing it through rose coloured glasses. She is misinterpreting signs and signals, she's trying to tame her thoughts and trying not to dream too far ahead, but he does keep leading her on and there are times when he leads her on and it's not necessarily part of his plan, and so you can forgive her for believing that he cares of her because I think there are times when he thinks that maybe she is the only person that he can actually trust."
Tagged in Jake Wood