Cheryl Fergison, who of course played the role of Heather Trott in EastEnders, is to star in panto – as is former Emmerdale star Danny Miller – this Christmas playing the role of the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the Central Theatre in Chatham, Kent.

Of the role, Cheryl said, “I’m thrilled and I’ve heard that the Central Theatre and Medway audiences are brilliant, so it’s going to be loads of fun.”

And the pantomime’s producer Paul Hendy added, “Cheryl will go down a storm.”

When it was first revealed that Cheryl was being axed from EastEnders, she told the media that she was “upset” at the news, but later, she agreed with the show’s bosses that it was perhaps best to end the character’s run before the viewers became “bored” with her.

However, later, when Cheryl filmed her final scenes as Heather, she was again upset that the show’s bosses called in a stunt double to film the moments when Ben Mitchell (Joshua Pascoe) felled Heather with a photo frame…

But bosses relented and allowed Cheryl to film scenes as her character’s corpse, which was of course lying on the floor of Heather’s flat as a procession of various people trooped in.

Heather’s funeral airs next week, and at the wake, when the police turn up and want to speak to “Mr Mitchell”, all the Mitchell men are on edge as an arrest is made.

Don’t miss that drama all next week.