Tamzin Outhwaite is "very sad" Charlie Winter is leaving ‘EastEnders’.
The 48-year-old actress – who portrays Mel Owen on the BBC One soap – is disappointed that her on-screen son, who plays Hunter Owen, is departing Albert Square, but she has tipped the 23-year-old actor to have a "very bright future".
She told Inside Soap magazine: "I feel very sad about not working with Charlie. He has a very bright future, so I’m excited for him as well."
Tamzin also hinted her alter-ego will find love again one day, following her disastrous and short-lived marriage to Ray Kelly (Sean Mahon), who was shot by Hunter just hours after he wed Mel.
She said: "Since coming back to the Square, she’s not as shiny and new as the Mel we once knew. She’s bitter, twisted and damaged – but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t got hope.
"Maybe love will come along one day, and it’ll bring all of that back out. Because it seems to me that love is the thing that does that to people."
Tamzin reprised her role as Mel in 2018 after initially portraying the character from 1998 to 2002, and she is "having a great" time being back in Walford.
She said: "I’ve been back at ‘EastEnders’ for over a year now, and it’s been lovely, I can’t believe how quickly it’s gone – you don’t have a moment to think about it.
"I’m having a great time, I adore everyone I’m working with, and I think it’s a very good period to be in this show."
Tamzin Outhwaite ‘sad’ to see Charlie Winter leave EastEnders
