Inside Charlie Brooks' tumultuous history with EastEnders as she quits for fourth time

Charlie Brooks is set to quit her role as evil Janine Butcher in EastEnders for a fourth time - just 18 months after her last return to Albert Square.

The 41-year-old actress is expected to bow out of the BBC soap – no doubt in dramatic Janine fashion – when her current contract comes to an end later this year.

How she will exit the show remains to be seen, but viewers have recently seen her strike up a romance with Mick Carter, played by Danny Dyer.

Scheming Janine announced she was pregnant with Mick’s baby in front of his shell-shocked ex-wife Linda Carter.

Both Mick and Janine are both due to leave the soap this year, so viewers will have to wait to see what big storylines EastEnders bosses have in store - and if they are linked.

Here we look back on Charlie’s time on EastEnders so far and the reasons she has quit playing manipulative Janine.

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Charlie is the third actress to play Janine Butcher after Rebecca Michael and Alexia Demetriou.

She landed the role in 1999 at the age of 17 and will go down in history as EastEnders’ most iconic ‘super bitch’.

Her first storyline saw her move in with dad Frank Butcher and new wife Peggy Mitchell, played by late greats Mike Reid and Dame Barbara Windsor.

Not content with meddling in their relationship, which later broke down, Janine slept with Jamie Mitchell (Jack Ryder) and had a relationship with Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) before her cocaine addiction spiralled into her working as a prostitute to fund her habit.

After getting her life back on track, she was back to her scheming ways and struck up a relationship with Barry Evans (Shaun Williamson), who she married and famously murdered by pushing off a cliff on New Year’s Day 2004.

She got away with Barry’s murder, but was later arrested for killing Laura Beale, who died after falling down the stairs and breaking her neck after a fight with Janine.

Janine’s step-mum Pat Butcher (Pam St Clement) knew she didn’t do it, but tried to frame her and she was remanded in custody – leaving the soap for the first time.

In real life Charlie was pregnant with daughter Kiki, now 17, who she shares with former partner, Ibiza club owner Tony Truman.

She took time off to be a mum during her first break from the show, but after Charlie split with Tony in 2006 she realised she wanted some job security.

The pair remain good friends - with Tony living in the flat above Charlie’s Surrey home. He even threw a 40th birthday party for her in their garden after they were bubbled together during lockdown.

Charlie, who has been single for four years, told Kate Thornton’s podcast White Wine Question Time that her and Tony will grow old together “just in a very different way”.

She added: “He is absolutely my family and nothing will ever change that.”

In 2008, Charlie announced she was returning to Walford for a guest stint on EastEnders – but this was later extended to a full-time role.

After being cleared over Laura’s death, Janine made her comeback at dad Frank’s funeral but was annoyed to find he hadn’t left her anything in his will.

This time round Charlie’s stint on the show was seven years from 2008 to 2014 – with a brief break in 2013 - during which time Janine typically caused more chaos.

She married a man for his money, blackmailed Jack Branning and Ian Beale and accidentally knocked down and killed Danielle, the long-lost daughter of Ronnie Mitchell.

Janine also teamed up with Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb) to try and ruin the Mitchell family by conning them out of the Queen Vic pub and was later a suspect in Archie’s murder - but the real killer was exposed as Stacey Slater.

Life looked to be getting better for Janine when she found love with Ryan Malloy, who became her third husband, but they split when he had an affair with Stacey.

After inheriting cash from her grandmother Lydia, Janine moved on with fourth husband Michael Moon, who is the father of her daughter Scarlett.

But he turned out to be just as scheming as her and tried to kill Janine to get sole custody of Scarlett - but she ended up murdering him in self-defence.

Janine was arrested in a dramatic episode on Christmas Day 2014 and charged with Michael’s murder, but she cheated justice again when a jury failed to convict her.

Walford residents were less forgiving and she was forced to flee the Square when everyone shunned her after her release from prison.

Offscreen Charlie explained she was leaving again to spend more time with daughter Kiki, who was heartbroken after growing up on the EastEnders set.

She told HELLO! magazine: "Kiki cried her eyes out when I told her I was leaving. She has been on set a lot over the years.

“It is a brave decision for me. I will miss the financial security. But I can't wait to do all those regular mummy things with Kiki, like picking her up from school and baking cakes. Between the long hours and an hour-and-a-half travelling time either side of my working day, I have missed out on those things."

The actress admitted she was scared about the immediate future – but excited to see what the future had in store for her.

And BBC bosses made it clear the door would remain open for Janine, with Charlie saying: "Janine still has a way to go yet and is never far from Walford. It may be more see you later than goodbye."

During her breaks from the soap, Charlie has starred in several other productions, including BBC Drama Bleak House, Casualty, Heartbeat, Suspects, Moving On, and The Dumping Ground, which also starred her daughter Kiki.

In 2020 she had a role in short film FOG and won praise for her role in four-part Channel 5 drama Lie With Me in 2021.

She has also turned her hand to reality TV, winning the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special in 2011 and being named Queen of the Jungle on I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2012.

Charlie said appearing on I’m A Celebrity helped her land more roles as it was easy to get typecast as Janine, as she is so iconic.

Nevertheless she reprised her role as Janine in 2021 after a seven-year break.

After another 18-month stint in the soap, she shared she would be leaving for a fourth time.

She told The Sun on Sunday: "I was only ever due back to EastEnders for a year, but when [exec producer] Chris Clenshaw presented me with his idea for the story, I couldn’t say no to staying a little longer.

"I’ve had an amazing time, as I always do when I go back. But as always with Janine, she probably should not outstay her welcome - for everyone’s sake."

Last year Charlie, who is a co-founder of online acting school iampro, spoke about her plans for the future.

She told The Mirror: “I’ve got loads of ideas. I’ve got a film I want to get adapted into a play. I’m also co-creating a series with a friend. I would never have been able to have these conversations or feel confident enough and believe that I could do something like that.

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