Wendy Richard: 'This illness won't beat me!'

Wendy Richard: 'This illness won't beat me!' (Image credit: PA Wire/PA Photos)

Former EastEnders star Wendy Richard has insisted she's not in any rush to shuffle off the mortal coil. The veteran star, who played Pauline Fowler in the BBC One soap, told The Sun: "I'm not dying. This illness won't beat me." Wendy, who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer last year and has lost her hair, went on: "I'm certainly not thinking about dying. Wendy Richard is going to be around a long time yet." The actress admitted the gruelling chemotherapy left her exhausted. "When you are on chemo your immune system is very low. So if I caught a cold it could be quite serious for someone in my position. I'd rather not take a risk." She also had a message for Jade Goody and other celebrities who are fighting cancer. "My message to Jade and everyone else in my position is simple: Keep plugging away, keep positive and look to the future," she said. Click here to watch whatsontv.co.uk’s new weekly soaps video preview, the Soap Scoop Get all the latest soap gossip delivered straight to your door. Subscribe to Soaplife magazine today

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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.