Glynis Barber confirms EastEnders departure

Glynis Barber has confirmed she will exit EastEnders next month.

The actress made her first appearance as Glenda Mitchell in the BBC soap in January 2010, with Glenda initially seen on a recurring basis until the summer.

Glenda arrived in the Square in the wake of her estranged husband Archie’s (Larry Lamb) murder. Ronnie (Samantha Womack) and Roxy (Rita Simons) weren’t exactly over the moon to see their mother as she had abandoned them when she had left Archie some years earlier.

However, Glenda had no real interest in resolving things with her daughters to begin with. Instead, her priority was getting a pay-out from Archie’s will and when the bulk of his money was left to Roxy, she became complicit in a scam to get her mitts on Roxy’s inheritance with her son Danny (Liam Bergin). In the end Glenda exposed Danny’s true colours. Although she’s since stuck around in Albert Square, the relationship between Glenda and her daughters has been far from smooth.

Glenda has recently been up to no good, having affairs with both Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) and Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden). Glenda’s man-eating antics will no doubt be exposed before she departs the Square.

“2010 was a busy and exciting year for me playing Glenda Mitchell in EastEnders. After Glenda manages to alienate practically everyone on Albert Square, she makes her exit in March 2011. But will she be back in the future to wreak more havoc? Well ‘she ain’t dead’ so anything is possible… watch this space!” – Glynis Barber on her website

Glynis’s exit from the soap comes shortly before Samantha Womack is due to bow out as Ronnie, after being involved in a controversial cot death/baby swap storyline. Glynis is best known for her role as Harriet Makepeace in 1980’s cop-drama Dempsey and Makepeace.