EastEnders legend planning petition to bring their iconic character back to BBC soap for 40th anniversary
A return for the soap icon could be on the cards as the BBC has announced a string of familiar faces will be appearing EastEnders this year
EASTENDERS legend Nina Wadia has revealed she wants to petition the BBC to bring back her iconic character, Zainab Masood.
Zainab was a regular face around Walford from 2007 to 2013.
Her biggest storylines involved her relationship and family life with Masood Ahmed (Nitin Ganatra), their marriage breakdown, and her abusive relationship with Yusef Khan (Ace Bhatti).
However, after six years Nina felt that it was time to spread her wings and pursue other opportunities, including her first singing role in Now! That’s What I Call A Musical.
But, having now spent more than a decade away from the soap, Nina says she would return in a heartbeat.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Nina said she would love to come back to help EastEnders celebrate its upcoming 40th anniversary.
She gushed: “I loved that show. I loved my time on it. I know they’ve got a big anniversary coming up, and I’m waiting for the call.”
As BBC soap fans know, Jane Beale (Laurie Brett) made a shocking return to Walford earlier this summer and dropped the bombshell news that she is back together with Zainab’s ex, Masood.
The pair share four children together and left things on pretty amicable terms, so if Masood follows Jane back to the square it’s certainly possibly Zainab wouldn’t be too far behind.
Nina admitted she would love to see a Masood-Zainab reunion on the soap.
“I love Nitin. He’s played my husband more than my real husband. To me, it’s like someone I’ve known so well. So it just worked. The whole family worked really well. And I loved my time on it. So I would never say no,” she admitted.
Nina explained that her time away from EastEnders has given her a fresh outlook on the future – and she teased that she wants that future to include the soap.
“I need to be freshened up and come back in,” she revealed.
“And I want to come back in the way I did originally, which is with comedy. That’s what I loved about Zainab was I brought humour to the role,” she added, before pleading to fans to “petition to bring her back!”
Fans have obviously been thinking the same thing, with many pleading for soap bosses to bring back Nina’s character, so perhaps the petition is already underway.
“Please bring back Masood and Zainab,” one fan pleaded on X, formerly Twitter.
