Palmer: They might write out Bianca

Patsy Palmer is aware that her EastEnders alter-ego may be written out in the future.

The 39-year-old actress, who is taking a six-month break from mouthy market seller Bianca Butcher, acknowledged that writers may make the decision to axe her character from the BBC soap one day.

"I'm really grateful that I've got such a good job, but at the same time I don't get paid for not going to work so in effect I'm losing out on six months worth of wages," she said on This Morning.

"You never know when they're going to do that on EastEnders. Obviously some amazing characters have been written out or died. They haven't written me out yet, but you never know."

Patsy - who makes her last EastEnders appearance before her Albert Square exit tonight in a Bianca special, airing at 8pm on BBC One - revealed she's looking forward to spending time with her four children.

"Just when I went back after having the baby, I was signing a new contract and I just asked whether that would be possible," said the actress, who recently renewed her vows.

"Because it's the school holidays between March and September, they're at different schools, the baby's only 16 months old. And it's quite hard to juggle it all. And I don't like to keep saying no to them all the time. If they've got something at school, I like to be involved in that."