Rita Simons: I couldn't let Roxy betray Ronnie

Rita Simons: I couldn't let Roxy betray Ronnie
Rita Simons: I couldn't let Roxy betray Ronnie (Image credit: Doug Peters/EMPICS Entertainment)

EastEnder actress Rita Simons has said she could never allow her alter ego Roxy Mitchell to betray her sister Ronnie by stealing her husband. Speaking to Inside Soap magazine, Rita said that while Roxy may re-ignite her affair with Jack Branning, played by Scott Maslen, she has to first believe that her screen sister has moved on. "Ronnie has filed for divorce from Jack, so I have to believe that she doesn't love him any more," Rita explained. "If I didn't think that, I wouldn't be able to play out the storyline. "It's Jack who persuades Roxy to stay and I'm sure that she has a few feelings of guilt. But if I didn't absolutely believe Ronnie was over Jack, I'd hate my own character." The pair are also set to become entangled in a bitter custody battle over baby Amy. However Rita added that she thinks they could actually make things work as a family if the circumstances were different. "I think Jack and Roxy would secretly both like to have a nice little nuclear family," the actress admitted. "I know it sounds weird but Roxy is actually quite fond of Jack. "They have a lot of history together, and she doesn't hate him - I think she pities him more than anything. "Maybe if their feuding families could stay out of their lives, they might stand a good chance!"

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.