EASTENDERS legend Nina Wadia has revealed she wants to petition the BBC to bring back her iconic character, Zainab Masood.
Zainab was a regular face around Walford from 2007 to 2013.
Her biggest storylines involved her relationship and family life with Masood Ahmed (Nitin Ganatra), their marriage breakdown, and her abusive relationship with Yusef Khan (Ace Bhatti).
However, after six years Nina felt that it was time to spread her wings and pursue other opportunities, including her first singing role in Now! That’s What I Call A Musical.
But, having now spent more than a decade away from the soap, Nina says she would return in a heartbeat.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Nina said she would love to come back to help EastEnders celebrate its upcoming 40th anniversary.
She gushed: “I loved that show. I loved my time on it. I know they’ve got a big anniversary coming up, and I’m waiting for the call.”
As BBC soap fans know, Jane Beale (Laurie Brett) made a shocking return to Walford earlier this summer and dropped the bombshell news that she is back together with Zainab’s ex, Masood.
The pair share four children together and left things on pretty amicable terms, so if Masood follows Jane back to the square it’s certainly possibly Zainab wouldn’t be too far behind.
Nina admitted she would love to see a Masood-Zainab reunion on the soap.
“I love Nitin. He’s played my husband more than my real husband. To me, it’s like someone I’ve known so well. So it just worked. The whole family worked really well. And I loved my time on it. So I would never say no,” she admitted.
Nina explained that her time away from EastEnders has given her a fresh outlook on the future – and she teased that she wants that future to include the soap.
“I need to be freshened up and come back in,” she revealed.
“And I want to come back in the way I did originally, which is with comedy. That’s what I loved about Zainab was I brought humour to the role,” she added, before pleading to fans to “petition to bring her back!”
Fans have obviously been thinking the same thing, with many pleading for soap bosses to bring back Nina’s character, so perhaps the petition is already underway.
“Please bring back Masood and Zainab,” one fan pleaded on X, formerly Twitter.
LOVE triangles are a fundamental part of soap-land, but which ones have become the most iconic?
EASTENDERS
Bradley/Stacey/Max: Stacey Slater began an affair with boyfriend Bradley Branning’s dad Max in 2007.
Despite their romps, Stacey still married Bradley, but their deceit came out in an iconic Christmas Day episode that year.
Grant/Sharon/Phil: Heading even further back in Walford history, EastEnders fans were gripped in the 90s as Sharon Watts had a one-night stand with her brother-in-law Phil Mitchell.
Sharon confided in best friend Michelle Fowler – not realising it was caught on tape – and her husband Grant eventually found out and played it in front of everyone at the Queen Vic.
Syed/Amira/Christian: Syed Masood was engaged to Amira before realising he had feelings for another man, Christian, which he confessed to him on his wedding day.
A devout Muslim, Syed refused to admit his true sexuality and went ahead and married Amira anyway, but when they returned, the two men started an affair before being caught in the act by Amira.
CORONATION STREET
Shelley/Peter/Lucy: Peter Barlow took the concept of a love triangle and ran with it in Coronation Street – extending it to bigamy.
He was in a relationship with Shelley Unwin but started dating Lucy Richards, and quickly married her after she fell pregnant with his son, Simon.
But it didn’t stop him also marrying Shelley, but he was eventually caught when Lucy turned up in Weatherfield and the two women confronted him.
Ken/Deidre/Mike: Back in 1982, Deirdre Barlow started sleeping with her husband’s nemesis Mike Baldwin in secret, before confessing all a year later.
When Mike turned up at the marital home, Deirdre was being throttled by her husband who then kicked her out, but years later they reconciled.
Maria/Aidan/Eva: In 2017, Aidan Connor started sleeping with girlfriend Eva Price’s best friend, Maria Connor.
Eva eventually found out and she decided to take revenge by faking a pregnancy, spending his money and planned to confront him on their wedding day.
But she had a change of heart when a remorseful Aidan confessed, and decided to marry him anyway, only for Maria to arrive and expose her fake pregnancy.
EMMERDALE
Ross/Debbie/Pete: Debbie Dingle found herself torn between two brothers, Ross and Pete Barton in 2015 in Emmerdale.
She eventually decided to marry Pete but yet again, a soap wedding day was ruined when the groom learned of his bride’s betrayal via a recording played at the wedding.
Chrissie/Robert/Aaron: Robert Sugden was married to Chrissie White and all seemed well – until he began a steamy affair with Aaron Dingle.
Robert’s ex Katie Sugden almost exposed the affair – but fell to her death before she had the chance.
However, a guilty Aaron eventually cracked and told Chrissie about the affair – after which she announced it to the whole pub.
“I hope the non-televised return of Masood means we get a Zainab return,” wrote another.
While a third said that they were thrilled about Jane’s return and now “just need Zainab and Masood to return to complete the hat trick.”
It’s definitely possible soap fans could see the return of Zainab at some point. EastEnders has already lined up a string of big cameos and returning faces in the run up to the 40th anniversary in February 2025.
Alongside Jane, other iconic characters like David Wicks, Bianca Jackson, Chrissie Watts and Mo Harris are set to return to Walford.
