EastEnders legend Natalie Cassidy has opened up about her soap fame, revealing the surprising person who finds it annoying. Best known for her portrayal of Sonia Fowler, Cassidy starred in the BBC soap on-and-off for nearly three decades before exiting last year.

Speaking about the attention she receives as one of the most recognisable faces in British soap history, Cassidy said that her youngest daughter, Joanie, who she shares with her fiancé Marc Humphreys, finds it difficult having a famous parent.

Opening up about being recognised when she first rose to fame, Cassidy said during an appearance on Miranda Sawyer’s Talk ’90s to Me podcast: “I feel like the older I get, the harder that becomes – I didn’t know any difference, it just naturally happened.”

“I can’t remember not being recognised, which is quite a weird thing,” she added, before saying that things changed once she had children. While her 15-year-old daughter, Eliza, is comfortable having a famous parent, Cassidy said that Joanie is much less forgiving.

“Eliza was very good, actually, she didn’t mind it. Joanie is different, Joanie gets really pissed off with it,” she said, adding: “She’s nine but she doesn’t like it, so that puts me on edge.”

“But as I always say, it’s the price you pay. And people always come up to me really positive, they’ve either watched me for years on EastEnders and then carried on looking at what I’m up to career-wise and it’s always really nice.”

“If I didn’t have those people, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. So you’ve got to be nice to people and you have to give people some time,” added the star, who first portrayed Sonia in 1993.

Elsewhere in the interview, Cassidy described her early years on the soap, saying: “I never fitted in because I had days off of school, people were very jealous and being on the television, people were also very jealous.

“I had friends who were lovely, but I just wanted to be at work. I also felt much more comfortable around older people and even at work, I got on with all the kids at my age, but would much rather sit in the dressing room with Wendy [Richard] and June [Brown].”