BRINGING BACK SONIA Natalie Cassidy sends EastEnders fans wild as she pulls out trumpet and performs as Sonia Fowler at music festival

NATALIE Cassidy sent EastEnders fans wild when she pulled out her trumpet and performed as Sonia Fowler at a music festival.

The former soap star, 43, quit Albert Square for good last year after 32 years, but yesterday brought her famous character back to life once more.

Natalie thrilled fans when she stepped out on stage at the Mighty Hoopla Festival in London wearing a bridesmaid dress and carrying her famous instrument.

For the big event in London, the actress recreated Sonia’s most iconic look from 1997, when she wore a similar peach frilly gown to her on-screen mum Carol Jackson’s wedding.

Complete with flowery headband and trumpet in hand, fans went wild as Natalie danced around the stage and played the instrument.

The star put on a great show for the revellers and looked like she was in her element, as she returned to her Sonia roots.

 

Commenting on the video shared on Instagram, one fan said: “Definitely iconic!”

Another added: “I obviously…. Am obsessed with this!”

A third said: “Oh what a hun!”

Natalie shot to fame playing Sonia in 1993, when she arrived in Walford as part of the rowdy Jackson family

This included sister Bianca, played by Patsy Palmer, brother Robbie, portrayed by Dean Gaffney, and Lindsey Coulson as mum Carol.

Sonia became well known for playing the trumpet on the soap, and when the character was younger, she could often be seen playing it around Albert Square.

When the character left the soap for good last year with sister Bianca, she was even seen playing the instrument, as she waved goodbye to Walford.

Natalie first left EastEnders in 2007, before returning briefly between 2010 and 2011, and again in 2014.

However, in January 2025 she revealed she was off again, a decision she appears to be very happy with, as she found the role quite “depressing”.

“Sonia isn’t the most glamorous of characters, bless her, but I wanted to stay true to her character, so I never got extensions put in, or dyed my hair,” she previously told Prima magazine.

“She was just a worker who didn’t have a lot of money and worked for the NHS.”

Continuing she revealed: “But coming away, and breaking free, I just thought, ‘I want to be glam. I want to wear coloured nails. And just feel like me’.

“I do feel like my face has changed a little since leaving EastEnders, because I was quite sad and depressed when I was playing Sonia, or angry all the time.”

Meanwhile, shortly after revealing she had quit EastEnders, Natalie exclusively told The Sun on Sunday: “I just feel like it’s time to be brave.

“You don’t want to get to 70 and think, ‘I never tried that’.

“I’ve loved this programme with all my heart. I started at ten, it’s in my bones, it’s in my heart.”

Natalie made the decision following a heart-to-heart with the soap’s top boss Chris Clenshaw last summer.

She said: “I’d been thinking about it for a little while. I had a wonderful chat with Chris back in the summer (2024). It’s just exciting.”

Since leaving the soap, Natalie has continued to work, which includes her very successful podcast, Life We Nat.

She also did a short-lived podcast called Off The Telly, with Joanna Page, and starred in the comedy-drama Boarders.