EastEnders spoilers follow.
EastEnders star Emma Barton has spoken exclusively to Digital Spy about the next chapter for her character Honey Mitchell after her ordeal with Bea Pollard. Honey went through the mill this year as her unstable bestie tried to destroy her marriage to Billy – and isolate her from everyone else on Albert Square along the way! Surely things can only get better now the troublemaker is off the scene?
Emma chatted to us while taking part in a stylish photoshoot celebrating EastEnders’ nominations at the Inside Soap Awards 2026. The pictures appear in the new issue of Inside Soap, which is out now.
You can see our exclusive behind-the-scenes video from the shoot at the top of the page, then read on for Emma’s full DS Q&A…
BBC
Hi, Emma! How does it feel to be up for Best Actress at the Inside Soap Awards 2026?
“I don’t know how to answer this because I’m still in shock! I’ve never been nominated, ever, and Honey’s been established in EastEnders for 21 years. So this is a real bolt out of the blue – in a nice way! It was lovely and I feel very honoured, especially to be up against the wonderful Di [Parish, who plays Denise] and Karen [Henthorn, who played Julie].”
Why should fans vote for EastEnders as Best Soap?
“Oh, you have to vote for EastEnders as Best Soap! Yet again we’re delivering storylines at such a high standard. It gets everybody talking about it, and that’s what we want. It is the best soap on telly!”
Have you enjoyed taking part in the photoshoot?
“It’s been brilliant – it’s lovely to get glammed up with hair and make-up done, and with the designer doing your costumes. It’s been beautiful.”
BBC
Looking back on the past year, how was it to film such a huge story for Honey and Bea?
“Oh my goodness, wasn’t it crazy, that storyline? But brilliant! It was a lot of fun, traumatising and it got the audience really talking about it, which is something that EastEnders does brilliantly. Everyone was not liking Bea Pollard when she was up to no good!”
Would you like to see Ronni Ancona return as Bea?
“Well I don’t think Honey would, let’s be fair! (Laughs.) I think it would traumatise her and her family. And even the other residents would be like: ‘Oh no, here she comes!’ But Ronni’s a dream – she’s a sweet, sweet lady. We did start morphing into each other as the weeks went on!”
What does the future hold for Honey and Billy?
“It’s been really tough for them both. Honey’s going through the perimenopause and there’s a lot of changes going on in her life, obviously with Bea thrown in the mix recently.
“But Honey and Billy are strong. Fundamentally it just comes down to the fact that they adore each other. They love their family and that unit. We just want them to always be together.”
BBC
How is Honey dealing with the fact that Will has been involved in the teens’ recent drama with Joel?
“I think as a parent you would never want to think that your children are involved in anything nasty like this. Honey definitely wouldn’t – her son’s a dream and she would be very disappointed, I think.”
Could we see a new friend for Honey now Bea is off the scene?
“Nicola is someone who Honey has got very close to. Both Dodders [Laura Doddington, who plays Nicola] and I love working together and because Nicola and Honey are so different, it’s that lovely yin and yang. So I would like to think Nicola would be Honey’s best friend!”
See a full Inside Soap interview with Emma in the new issue of the magazine, out now, containing exclusive photos with her and four other cast members. Votes for the Inside Soap Awards 2026 can be cast by clicking here.
EastEnders airs on Mondays-Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.
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