Tamzin's farewell to Albert Square

Actress Tamzin Outhwaite will bid farewell to Albert Square tonight as she makes her final appearance in EastEnders.

Outhwaite, who plays Melanie Owen, is leaving the soap after three years and will see her make an emotional exit.

Despite having new projects lined up, the actress has not ruled out a return to Albert Square.

Outhwaite, 31, decided to leave after the success of the BBC1 military drama Red Cap, which she took time off to film last year. The pilot proved popular and has now been made into a series, to be screened later this year.

She is also set to play the mother of a teenage criminal in the gritty new BBC two-parter Young Offenders.

After her jail ordeal, Mel was devastated to find she was pregnant, then by the shock of learning that her best friend Lisa shot Phil. Deciding there is no one left that she can trust, she turns her back on Albert Square.

Over the years Mel has married twice, been taken hostage, slept with her best friend's man and been locked up over her recently dead husband's dodgy deals.

On the prospect of returning to Eastenders, Tamzin said: "Never say never is my view, which is why I so hope they don't kill off Mel."

"It'd be nice to think that there might be a storyline for her at some point in the future," she added.

Outhwaite revealed that she will take some mementoes with her from the EastEnders set to remind her of her time on the soap, including the tiara Mel wore on the day of her wedding to Ian Beale.