EastEnders Actress Jaqueline Leonard Discusses Return to BBC Soap After 26-Year Hiatus

 

From her modest start as Sarah Preston in the medical drama Peak Practice to her breakthrough as Lorraine Wicks in EastEnders, actress Jacqueline Leonard has graced our screens for over 30 years.

Despite her enduring presence on British television, Jacqueline acknowledges that she occasionally requires a confidence boost. As she returns to Coronation Street in the role of Linda Hancock, the 58-year-old actress reveals that she has discovered a method to stay at her best.

“I engage in a lot of hypnotherapy,” she explains. “I use these tapes that assist in keeping me calm, aiding my sleep, and boosting my confidence. It’s not a constant practice, but every now and then, especially after long hours of work, I need a pick-me-up. So, I go to bed and play a tape.”

Jacqueline finds great joy in her role on Coronation Street, where she is affectionately known as “Granny” Linda by the Winter-Brown children. Her character, Linda, made her debut in 2015, attempting to reconnect with her daughters Izzy and Katy. Unfortunately, the reunion did not go as planned, with both daughters rejecting her.

Following Katy’s off-screen death in 2017, Linda formed a closer bond with her grandson, Joseph Winter-Brown. Joseph now resides with his father Chesney, along with Gemma Winter-Brown and their quadruplets.

Although Linda briefly returned to Portugal, she came back to Weatherfield in 2022 and even made an appearance at Gemma and Chesney’s wedding the previous year. Presently, Linda is back again, motivated by her desire to take Joseph overseas.

Jacqueline explains, “Linda isn’t intentionally trying to take Joseph away from Gemma, but she does feel quite maternal. She just wants what’s best for that boy – and Linda often has the right intentions, but sometimes they get misconstrued. I’m a mother myself. I would do anything for my child, and I presume Linda is doing exactly the same in her eyes. She wants what’s best for her grandson.”

As a devoted Coronation Street fan, Jacqueline is thrilled by the audience’s repeated calls on social media for her character’s return, confirming Linda’s popularity. “I’m thrilled that they seem to be bumping up my character, and I love that I get to go back to my Northern roots,” confesses Jacqueline. “Linda had been on the periphery for quite a while, and now she’s getting a bigger on-screen presence.”

Jacqueline appreciates the glamour associated with portraying Linda and is amused by the attention she receives. “From my point of view, it’s hilarious because my agent keeps giving me all this fanmail from younger guys going, ‘Oh, she’s a bit of a cougar. We love her’ – and wanting pictures of my bottom! I find it hilarious because I’m in my fifties.”

She notes the contrast between Linda, a glamorous woman in a sexy suit flaunting her wealth, and Joseph’s other grandma, Bernie, who struggles financially. This dynamic adds an old-fashioned Corrie touch with conflicts and catfights.

Jacqueline also enjoys the glamorous transformation her character undergoes, especially in comparison to her co-stars. She shares, “I’m good friends with Claire Sweeney [who plays Cassie Plummer], and she is this gorgeous, glamorous woman, and I’m there all-natural. Then suddenly, I’m walking out like Alexis Colby from Dallas, and Claire looks like this exhausted woman.”

Jacqueline diligently puts in the effort to maintain her figure. “I go to the gym or I go swimming to keep toned,” she says. “But I’m naturally slim and one of those people who can eat whatever they like – not that I eat badly.”

Despite being loved by viewers in Corrie, Jacqueline hasn’t always received positive feedback from fans. Reflecting on her time in EastEnders from 1996 to 1997, she confesses she had a hard time dealing with some of their outspoken opinions.

“Lorraine had huge storylines, but she was also quite angsty and tearful,” says Jacqueline. “And then she had the affair with Grant [Mitchell, Ross Kemp], and Tiffany [Mitchell, Martine McCutcheon] was pregnant at the time. So I started off having lovely fanmail, then it was terrible.

“I remember that Christmas episode had 23 million viewers, which is amazing. But once I was out shopping and this big group of kids recognised me and all started screaming at me down the street. I didn’t want them to know where I lived, which was in Balham at the time, so I went into a shop and begged the guy who worked there to let me out through the back. He did, and shut the shop for about five minutes. I ran home. The attention was unbelievable.”

Jacqueline is still recognised thanks to her other soap roles – she played Dr Caroline Powers in Doctors and Valerie Holden in Hollyoaks in 2007 – but she insists showbiz has taught her resilience.

“Back then, people believed I was that character in EastEnders. What’s different now is there’s social media, so people can separate you from the character. Now I’m on Corrie, the attention is starting up again. I get recognised more for River City when I’m in Scotland, but people in England don’t tend to watch it.”

Thanks to a three months on/three months off filming schedule, Jacqueline has juggled Corrie with her regular role as Lydia Murdoch in River City, where after a shocking New Year finale one of Jacqueline’s toughest storylines came to an end.

“A 50-something-year-old being assaulted by someone who knows her, and how the courts and the police dealt with it, was a great storyline,” she says. “The New Year’s Day episode was fabulous, really gritty and hard-hitting. It looked more like a drama than a soap. As Lydia, I’m involved with the Murdoch family, who are gangsters, and I absolutely love it.”

When she’s not working, Jacqueline is at home in Lancashire. In her downtime, she “paints and goes to the gym” and spends time with her husband Alex Mansfield and their daughter Aleisha, although Aleisha is not living with them for now.

“My daughter’s 21 now,” Jacqueline says. “She’s at university studying psychology – although she’s a fabulous singer.” Jacqueline’s family have got used to seeing her on TV – “It’s just the norm to them now” – but she says her husband remains her top fan. “He watches most of the shows I’m in. He loves Lydia, and actually, he likes Linda too. I think it’s the banter between her and Bernie. He loved the cake fight they had at Gemma’s wedding.”