Lacey Turner has opened up about her reasons for taking a hiatus from EastEnders after she announced she would leave the programme for an indefinite period earlier this month.

The soap star, 37, made her debut on the BBC show as Stacey Slater in 2004, when she was 16-years-old. This is her first break from the series in 21 years.

In that time, Turner has welcomed three children, Dusty, five, Trilby, four, and five-month-old Gipsy Olive with her husband Matt Kay, who she married in 2017.

Speaking to OK! Magazine, Turner said she has mixed feelings about taking a break from EastEnders and admitted she experienced guilt since becoming a mother.

“The older they get the more you realise how quickly the little years pass,” Turner said of her children. “You feel guilty for leaving them, but also guilty for not earning. It’s just never-ending.”

She added: “We’re all just trying our best. And whatever your best looks like, that is enough. Right now, I’m just soaking up the baby cuddles and focusing on family life. But I do miss the chaos of the Square and my work family.”

Turner’s career break comes after her character was left grieving the death of her ex-husband Martin Fowler (James Bye), who declared his love for her shortly before he was killed in an explosion at the Queen Vic.

The soap star filmed the dramatic scenes for the EastEnders 40th anniversary live episode in February just weeks after giving birth to her third child Gipsy Olive.

Announcing she would be taking a break from EastEnders in May, Turner told The Sun: “It’s time for myself and Stacey to take a rest and who knows what Stacey will get up to in her time away? Knowing Stacey, it will never be boring.”

Meanwhile, an EastEnders spokeswoman told the paper: “We can confirm that Lacey will be off-screen later this year, but there is plenty of more drama to come beforehand and we will look forward to planning Stacey’s return when Lacey decides the time is right.”

EastEnders airs on BBC One from Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm