Kathy Beale's EastEnders resurrection 'feasible', says Gillian Taylforth

EastEnders actress Gillian Taylforth says her return will be "something feasible" - even though her character Kathy Beale was killed off in 2006.

The actress is returning permanently to the show for a third stint.

Taylforth appeared briefly in the live 30th anniversary episode in February, following her character's "death"' back in 2006.

Viewers did not see her death as Kathy was believed to have died in a car crash in South Africa.

"Obviously, she was killed off-screen," Taylforth told the Radio Times: "And it's funny because a lot of people have always said to me, 'Why don't you come back to EastEnders?' And when I say, 'I'm dead!' they always respond, 'Well, I never saw that!'"

She explained that she had no idea EastEnders bosses wanted her to return again when they contacted her to discuss the 30th anniversary.

She told the Radio Times: "Dom (Dominic Treadwell-Collins, the show's executive producer) told me that they wanted me to come back. And he got all emotional and cried. I was so shocked that I didn't.

"But then I got into the car to go home and sobbed: 'They want me back! They want me back!'."

Her return has been top secret, and she was not even allowed to tell her children about her earlier February appearance.

She recalls going back to her dressing room after the episode aired: "On my phone, there was a message from my daughter saying 'Oh God, mum, is it true you were in it?'

"And then my son texted me: 'Thank you, mother. Ninety-nine percent of the population know you're back in EastEnders and one per cent, your beloved son, doesn't'.

"I asked them, they hadn't watched it and they said they were busy."

Her character was first written out in 1998, when she decided to leave the show. She returned for a brief while and then was "killed off" in 2006.

Taylforth's lips are sealed when it comes to any more details of her off-screen death and return.

She says: "I can't say. The truth will out."

Pictures showing her reuniting with her on-screen son, Ian Beale (played by Adam Woodyatt) were released last week.

Their scenes are set to air in October.