{"id":41131,"date":"2025-08-03T15:35:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T15:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/41131\/"},"modified":"2025-08-03T15:35:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T15:35:11","slug":"why-eastenders-karen-taylor-wont-be-returning-to-walford-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/41131\/","title":{"rendered":"Why EastEnders’ Karen Taylor won’t be returning to Walford soon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lorraine Stanley<\/a> has ruled out a return to Albert Square. Speaking with the Mirror<\/a>, the actor, who portrayed fiery matriarch Karen Taylor<\/a> from 2017 to 2024, explained that for now, she’s focusing on her family life. <\/p>\n

Asked if she would reprise her iconic role, Stanley mused: “Maybe \u2013 they didn’t kill me off. But right now, I wouldn’t. I’m enjoying [spending time with my daughter] Nancy. On EastEnders, I missed a lot of milestones. Now I’m like her personal taxi driver for skateboarding, piano lessons \u2013 and I love it. <\/p>\n

“I’ve gone for a few auditions. I haven’t got anything yet, but I will,” the TV star continued. “And if I don’t, I don’t mind that either. I’m so happy being a mum.”<\/p>\n

Stanley made her final appearance in EastEnders<\/a> in June 2024. Following the murder of her son Keanu (Danny Walters<\/a>), a devastated Karen had jetted to Walford from Spain, where she attended Keanu’s funeral and spoke with his supposed killer, Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo). <\/p>\n

Unaware that it was actually Linda Carter<\/a> (Kellie Bright) who had killed Keanu, Karen was convinced by Bernie (Clair Norris) to return to her life abroad for the sake of her mental health. <\/p>\n

\"eastenders,<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Related: EastEnders’ quickest reveal ever as George and Nicola get caught out<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking exclusively with Digital Spy<\/a> in February, Stanley opened up about leaving the long-running soap. <\/p>\n

“I was in EastEnders for seven years and it becomes like any job. I loved the people and I loved the job while I was there. But then you come away from it going: ‘Oh, actually, the doors are open now to do whatever I want’. So it’s a nice feeling, being free.”<\/p>\n

Related: Best film and TV tours for 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Following her character’s exit, Stanley, who shares her nine-year-old daughter Nancy with her partner of 12 years, Mark Perez, has since turned her attention to wedding planning. <\/p>\n

Confirming that their nuptials will take place in Hertfordshire, the actor told the Mirror<\/a> that she and Perez have opted for a church wedding, followed by celebrations at a pub with a teepee and barbecue. Their daughter Nancy will be the flower girl on their wedding day. Meanwhile, Stanley’s EastEnders co-star Danny Walters is on the guest list. <\/p>\n

Digital Spy’s new print issue is here! Buy Oasis – Live in ’25<\/a> in newsagents or online<\/a>, now priced at just \u00a38.99.<\/p>\n

Deals that might interest you\"Shop<\/a>Shop Sky TV, broadband and mobile deals\"On\"Richard<\/a>Richard Osman: We Solve MurdersCredit: Viking\"Stranger<\/a>Stranger Things Hellfire Club dice dangle charmCredit: Pandora\"Shop<\/a>Shop PS5 consolesCredit: PlayStation\"Shop<\/a>Shop Alison Hammond’s outfitsCredit: Mark Bourdillon\"Apple<\/a>Apple TV+ 7-day free trialCredit: Apple TV+\"Sign<\/a>Sign up for Disney+Credit: Chuck Zlotnick\"The<\/a>The Street of Lies: An Official Coronation Street Interactive NovelCredit: Octopus Books\"Death<\/a>Death in Paradise: The Puzzle BookCredit: BBC Books <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lorraine Stanley has ruled out a return to Albert Square. Speaking with the Mirror, the actor, who portrayed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[379,23689,381,96,2788,1156,23688,391,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-41131","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-content-type-news","9":"tag-contentid-04065497-eb52-46f2-a801-38a2c77411ee","10":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-hasproduct-true","13":"tag-locale-gb","14":"tag-shorttitle-why-eastenders-karen-taylor-wont-be-returning","15":"tag-tv","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}