I don't watch EastEnders, says McCutcheon

Former EastEnders star Martine McCutcheon has admitted she has not seen an episode of the soap for over two years.

The actress - who played Tiffany Mitchell in the soap - told the News Of The World she hasn't tuned in since her old friend Patsy Palmer returned as Bianca Jackson in 2008.

And she confessed that she had been put off the show by the increased number of episodes and characters.

"I'd say the minute you do a certain amount of episodes a week, and the minute you've got loads of characters, it's hard to care about every single one for every single episode," McCutcheon said.

"When I was in it there were two episodes a week, with a Sunday omnibus.

"There were a lot fewer characters so people cared about you more, and went on your journey more.

"Now you feel there are some people in some soaps just because it fills up the time.

The actress - who recently published her first novel, The Mistress - left the soap in 1998 after her character was killed on New Year's Eve.

22m viewers tuned in to see her meet her demise, compared to the 10.9m who watched the 2009 Christmas Day episode in which Archie Mitchell was murdered.