She’s best known to millions as EastEnders’ Sonia Fowler, but Natalie Cassidy is worlds away from her soap character in her latest project.
The actress is set to appear as a teacher in the second series of the popular BBC comedy-drama Boarders, alongside The Traitors US host Alan Cumming.
The show follows five school students from London after winning scholarships to the elite boarding school St. Gilbert’s.
The first series debuted to critical acclaim last year and will return for a second outing on BBC Three and iPlayer next month.
In it, Natalie will appear as an eccentric teacher from a rival school called Sharon Hail.
Speaking about her new role, Natalie said: ‘I loved series one of Boarders and was so thrilled to be asked to appear in series two.
‘There is such talent amongst all the cast and crew and I loved playing a very eccentric teacher. Don’t miss it!’
Speaking about his role, Alan said: ‘I’ve always said that letting people know you are a fan of theirs is a good idea. And, so it was with Boarders.
‘I mentioned this to the producers (who also happen to produce The Traitors), and very soon after, I found myself on the set having such a fun time!’
Boarders creator Daniel Lawrence Taylor added: ‘Welcoming the fantastic Alan Cumming and Natalie Cassidy to St. Gilbert’s was an absolute pleasure and they were a joy to work with.
‘I can’t wait for viewers to see what they got up to on campus!’
Natalie recently took an extended break from filming EastEnders to work on new projects.
Her character Sonia Fowler returned to screens earlier this month as she faced trial for the murder of her fiancé Reiss Colwell’s (Jonny Freeman) comatose wife Debbie.
The character – who had been wrongly accused, with Reiss actually responsible for his wife’s death – was later found not guilty.
However, she now faces a fight to save her sister Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer), who looks set to go down for the crime.
