Former EastEnders star Preeya Kalidas open to soap return
Preeya Kalidas played Amira Masood in 'EastEnders' from 2009 until 2012, and the actress has revealed she is open to making a return.
Preeya Kalidas is up for an ‘EastEnders’ comeback.
The 44-year-old actress left her role as Amira Masood in 2012 after three years on the BBC One soap to pursue other opportunities.
Amira departed Albert Square in a storyline in which she divorced her husband Syed Masood (Marc Elliott) after discovering he was actually gay and had been having a fling with Christian Clarke (John Partridge).
Since then, Preeya has released music, as well as having performed in notable West End musicals, including 'Bend it Like Beckham' and 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie', but she is open to making a return to Walford.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz at the 'We Aren't Kids Anymore' musical world premiere at the Savoy Theatre in London on Monday night (28.04.25), she said: "I mean, it's such an incredible show, I had an amazing time on it - why wouldn't I?"
'EastEnders' has recast characters over the years, such as Jenna Russell replacing the original Michelle Fowler star Susan Tully - who played her from 1985 until 1995 and chose not to reprise her alter ego - when the former Walford resident returned in 2016.
Asked how she would feel if the soap's bosses got another actress to play Amira, Preeya admitted: "I guess decisions like that are out of your hands, but that would be interesting."
'The Three Musketeers' star grew up watching the show as it was "a staple in our household", and Preeya has hailed her time on Albert Square as "one of my best experiences".
She said: "It was one of the shows that I grew up watching, my family watched [it] - it was like a staple in our household.
"So then to get that part of Amira and that incredible storyline, it was, honestly, one of my best experiences just because also working on an incredible show like that, but it was working with such a funny cast, like my [on-screen] family.
"We just had such - like seven in the morning when you're like dead, we definitely perked up."
However, Preeya feared she and Marc may have got into trouble after they could not stop laughing when filming a scene involving a necklace.
She explained: "Actually, one particular moment - Marc and I were filming on the square, and it was a really short scene and, for some reason, we just really got the giggles, and we just couldn't film this scene because we just kept laughing.
"It was a scene about a necklace - it wasn't even that important - but it was, obviously, important for that episode.
"The way it worked was when we were shooting, the executive producer has his monitor or screen in his office, so I kept saying to Marc, 'Oh my God, Marc, they're going to be watching us laughing, and that was making us laugh even more because I was like, 'We're going to be in so much trouble.'
"We didn't get in trouble, but, you know, we should've not been laughing, but it was so wonderful."
