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04.08.12

Letitia Dean feels like a ''matriarch'' on the set of 'EastEnders'.

The 44-year-old actress has returned as Sharon in the soap for the first time since 2006 - having first appeared when she was 16 - and she admits all she needs is ''shoulder pads'' to get back into the character. She said: ''Her skirts have got a bit longer and her hair slightly bigger, but there's still that 80s theme.

There was an idea to make her a bit more edgy - as an actress, part of you wants to come back with a nice, short, dark bob.

But I think the public like people who don't really change their decade much. ''To slip back into Sharon, I just need shoulder pads and a sugar plum lustre.

''I'm 45 now in the show and I was 16 when I started so I'm hopefully going to become a matriarch. I bloody feel like one!'' Letitia - whose return will be marked by a special seven episode run - also feels her late co-star Wendy Richards is looking over her.

She told the Daily Mirror newspaper: ''I'm so happy to be back and I still feel Wendy is here for me. We were neighbours and really good friends.

''Occasionally I say things to people and think, 'Wendy would love that.' She's in a better place now, she was very poorly. But she loved that show more than life itself.''