Former EastEnders star Michelle Ryan has dropped a hint that she’s finally ready to return to the show.

The actress is best known for portraying Zoe Slater in the BBC One soap. She left the show in 2005 and hasn’t been seen

since.

Daughter to Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace), Zoe has been mentioned a number of times since her departure, but fans have

always been desperate for her to head back to Walford.

Recently, Michelle reunited with her co-star Kacey Ainsworth (Little Mo), another star of the show audience members would love to see on our screens again. As they headed out for a dog walk, the stars reflected on their time in the soap.

Sharing a variety of wonderful pictures in the countryside, Michelle wrote alongside: ‘Just got back from a lovely dog walk with my friend Kacey. We worked together many moons ago (no pun intended) on Eastenders as sisters.

‘Part of the Slater family. Our boss John Yorke took a real risk putting a family of women in the show and it paid off as on one week when Zoe found out that Kat was her mother viewers tuned into the BBC for 19, 18, 20 and 21 million per episode plus the omnibus.

She added: ‘The national grid reported a surge in electricity as all the kettles were clicked on after the credits. Such a heady hayday the early 2000’s were. The excitement of knowing you had a two hander written by Tony Jordan was like opening a present on Christmas Day.

‘You would check your pigeon hole where scripts and fan mail were placed and rush back to highlight the dialogue. I will always be grateful to John and Tony for my first big break on primetime TV. They were a winning combo.’

Within the comments, Michelle’s followers obviously couldn’t resist pointing out that they’d like her to reprise her Zoe Slater role.

Michelle’s response to a few of the comments has sparked huge interest, as the star didn’t outright say she doesn’t want to return.

In one of the messages, a follower said: ‘Love the show. My buddy is one of the shows directors and I hope to visit the set one day. Would you ever consider a return?’, to which Michelle said ‘Never say never’!