One former star of EastEnders, who also appeared on Coronation Street for a number of years, has candidly addressed her sudden axing and admitted she would have preferred to have stayed for logner15:36, 20 May 2026Jill Halfpenny has revealed the "disappointment" she felt when she was axed from EastEnders. The actress, 50, who made a name for herself as a teenager on Byker Grove, had already starred as nurse Rebecca Hopkins on Coronation Street in the late 1990s before switching soaps and taking on the part of Kate Mitchell in the BBC rival.‌She initially appeared as an undercover policewoman in Albert Square in 2002, who quickly began a relationship with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) and was married to him until she made her on-screen departure in January 2005.‌During her time on the serial, Kate went into a business partnership with Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman) and they ran a salon together, but this ended in disaster when Chrissie discovered Kate had slept with her husband Den Watts (Leslie Grantham) and hacked her hair off in front of a shattered mirror as revenge. Now, Jill has said that it "wasn't my decision" to leave either soap at the time.‌READ MORE: Inside Jill Halfpenny's life from Emmerdale family member to devastating lossREAD MORE: EastEnders 'confirm' Sam Mitchell exit - and she won't be leaving aloneJill went on to appear as drama teacher Izzie Redpath in the school-based drama Waterloo Road during its first two series, and even though she craves the "variety" that comes with an acting career, she would have preferred to have stayed on EastEnders for a bit longer.She said: "I'd literally just been told that EastEnders weren't going to renew my contract, and I have to say, I would've done another year.‌"So I was really disappointed. I'm not gonna sugar coat that. I didn't feel ready and I said would have loved to have stayed but they said 'No, we're gonna let you go.' So I rang my agent, and said 'Yeah, that's come to an end.'"Just after leaving EastEnders, Jill went on to win the second series of Strictly Come Dancing, and she starred alongside Sheridan Smith in the original London production of Legally Blonde and won an Olivier Award for her portrayal of Paulette Bonafonte.‌In more recent years, Jill has starred in top-rated dramas like The Feud and After The Flood but admitted that that while it can all feel like a "terrible decision" to leave a soap, it is necessary to make the leap to find out what lies ahead despite the lack of guarantee.Speaking on the A Night In With Sally Lindsay podcast, she told her Number One Fan co-star: "I think literally days before that conversation, they had offered me Strictly. And we just had to say 'Yeah, we'll see what happens with that.'"Now, when you look back on things like that - how amazing is it that I wasn't in EastEnders? After Strictly, I was able to do all the lovely things that came my way rather than being locked into a contract. It's weird the way life presents you with things. I think everybody was really surprised that I won!Article continues below"But any time an actor walks away from security, you think 'Am I a lunatic?' When you have the fire inside you, you have to be scared and jump. For a long time, you're freefalling and you think 'That was a terrible decision!' but somewhere along the line you think 'I had to wade through the s***' to get to the bit I was waiting for. "Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .