EastEnders star Danielle Harold has revealed that she thinks she was "stereotyped" during her time away from the soap.
Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, the actress said she "couldn't wait" to return to Walford after being offered too many stereotypically "blonde" roles during her four-year break from the BBC soap.
Danielle said she thought she'd been typecast as strippers and sex workers because of the colour of her hair.
"I was stereotyped – it was the classic prostitute or pole dancing role," she said. "I think it was because of my blonde hair."
Danielle is finally returning to her EastEnders role as Lola Pearce this week, along with a recast Ben Mitchell and their young daughter Lexi.
On her return to the soap, Danielle told Digital Spy: "It's been really lovely coming back. I was a little bit nervous about what people were going to say, because it's been so long and you think, 'Oh do people remember the character?'"
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"It was so overwhelming when they released she was coming back and seeing the reaction. Everyone was really lovely and supportive. I was really excited."
EastEnders airs Lola and Ben's return on Monday, April 1 at 8pm on BBC One.
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