EASTENDERS | BBC1 WEDNESDAY
EASTENDERS STAR MICHELLE COLLINS ON WHY HER CHARACTER JUST CAN’T STAY AWAY FROM GEORGE…
Is the old Cindy back?” ponders Michelle Collins, when we quiz her about her character’s out and out seduction attempt on George this week. “Well, if she was, she wouldn’t be able to live on Albert Square! But I do think she’s up to her old tricks again...”
Indeed she is, judging by this week’s episodes. And those tricks always centre around wanting what she can’t have. As soon as Cindy is settled, it seems she’s on the lookout for something that’s going to bring it all crashing down again. We saw it in the old days with Wicksy, then with David, affairs which left chaos in their wake. And now she’s at it again with ex-hubby George.
As Michelle considers these observations – after returning to the Square in a blaze of publicity last year – she admits that her character’s behaviour can sometimes be baffling.
“Even I find it hard to keep up with what Cindy is doing because she’s such a complex character!” the actress admits. “What I do know is that Cindy doesn’t like to be turned down, and one of the things that makes George so interesting is that she’s not his world anymore. There’s a part of her that desperately wants George, but also knows she might not get him.”
And while it may look as though Cindy’s scheming is calculated, Michelle reckons her actions are often more impulsive than planned out.
“She is just very driven by her emotions all the time,” Michelle says. “With George and Elaine’s split, she knows that it will cause trouble – and there’s a part of her that likes a bit of excitement. But she does also have some conscience about hurting people because she’s not totally bad!”
Well, she seems pretty bad to us this week, as she walks out on Ian and moves on to her seduction mission. Ian has always inexplicably loved Cindy – despite her many terrible deeds – and was the one who brought her back to the Square last year. And Michelle admits that the fact Cindy is very aware of this only makes the situation more torturous.
“Ian saved Cindy, and she knows that,” she states. “Cindy is worried about upsetting Ian, and she’s torn because she probably knows that she’s in a better place with him than she would be with George. Meanwhile, it’s a really difficult living situation because she knows that Kathy can’t tolerate her and hates her; and she doesn’t like Kathy, but she knows where her bread is buttered at the moment. George is not Ian, and whil
