EastEnders’ Denise Fox actress Diane Parish has addressed her future on the BBC soap to The Mirror and other press, ahead of a devastating new storyline for the icon

EastEnders star Diane Parish said she was thrilled to see EastEnders take its 12th BAFTA, ahead of a milestone for her character Denise Fox.

Diane and the show will mark the 20th anniversary of Denise on Monday. The star recalled some of her biggest moments on the soap, ahead of possibly her toughest storyline to date.

She also confessed she didn’t expect to still be playing Denise after two decades, not believing it was “sustainable” for so long. She said: “Tomorrow morning I’ll have been part of this show for 20 years – I never thought it would be possible to sustain one character for this period of time.

“The roads that I’ve gone down, the crazy things. I’ve been dead, I’ve been homeless, I’ve eaten out of bins, and now I’ve got a whole new journey.”

Michelle Collins, who plays Cindy Beale, laughed as she added: “We’ve all been dead Di!” EastEnders boss Ben Wadey said the BBC One soap had won because it has “the best writing team in the business.”

Diane said her favourite storying was the big murder whodunnit The Six. “It was my absolute fave – the resulting psychosis for Denise. It sounds a little bit odd but it was so much fun doing it.

“Running through the forest in the middle of the night.” Suggesting that she had no plans to leave Walford any time soon, she added: “But who knows what is to come, you always get a new favourite, it changes all the time.”

Diane’s Albert Square alter ego Denise is about to face a battle with blood cancer. It was announced last week that the character would be diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia.

Fans have been left concerned the character will bow out in the storyline, especially after a past interview with Diane teased an exit. In the chat, Diane had hinted she would see once she got to 20 years whether she would stay with the soap.

Now, with 20 years marked, fans are worried Denise will die. One fan posted on social media: “Don’t you DARE take ar D away from us.” Another said: “You better not take D or istg I’ll riot.”

Accepting the BAFTA award onstage, Diane told the audience: “Thank you to BAFTA. We are so grateful. For all the people who have watched our show that stick with us, thank you.

“The fans, and thank you to our amazing cast, our tremendous crew that do great things and achieve such amazing television in such a short period of time.”