Jacqueline Jossa would love to return to 'EastEnders' in the next five years.

Jacqueline Jossa

Jacqueline Jossa

The 27-year-old actress - who played Lauren Branning for eight years before she left the BBC show in 2018 - doesn't think she'll be back anytime soon, but she's not ruling out an Albert Square comeback.

She told MailOnline: "I think [five years] sounds better than me going back tomorrow, yes."

Jacqueline jokingly referenced her character's famous fall from the Queen Vic roof in the 2017 Christmas Day episode, suggesting she could "hobble back" at some point.

She added: "I absolutely love 'EastEnders', love the people, the production and I absolutely love Lauren Branning with all my heart.

"It doesn't feel like it was a goodbye forever, definitely not, well not from my end anyway.

"I would love to go back someday. I could hobble back in on my walking stick one day."

If she did return to the soap, Jacqueline's husband Dan Osborne would have a chance to finally watch her on screen after she recently revealed he didn't watch her on the show.

She previously admitted: "He didn't even watch 'EastEnders' when I was in it.

"I'd be like, 'Did you see me on 'EastEnders' tonight?' 'No.' "

Jacqueline has also said she would love to land some musical theatre roles in the future, or even release some of her own music - but her "heart" will always be with TV acting.

She added: "I haven't really met up with management and all of that.

"I think I want to do some form of theatre, maybe musical theatre, maybe my own music?

"Obviously, my heart is always with acting so back on the telly doing something like that."