Former EastEnders star looks unrecognisable as she lands role in massive Netflix show

Former star looked unrecognisable as she made her debut in the massive show Heartstopper.

The 48-year-old played Natalie Price between 1994 and 2004, and her character was best known for her torrid affair with Ricky Butcher, which subsequently ended his marriage to wife Bianca. Lucy opted to leave the show after less than a year in 1995, but she reprised her role as Natalie in 1999, as her character returned to Albert Square where she married Barry Evans, and tried to get Janine Butcher arrested for her ex-husband’s murder.

Lucy looked completely different to her character as she made her debut in the third series of the Netflix show Heartstopper, and fans were gobsmacked with her transformation. New episodes were released on the streaming service this week, and the actress plays healthcare worker Susan. She appears in episode four, titled Journey, as a mental health and eating disorder support worker, and works with Charlie (played by Joe Locke) as his eating disorder begins to worsen.

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The episode has been dubbed one of the best yet, as it follows Charlie and Nick (Kit Connor) navigate their relationship as Charlie’s anorexia envelops him, and he ends up being admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Lucy was proud of her time working on the show, and in a post on social media, she called the cast “divine” as she shared pictures from behind-the-scenes.

“The entire Heartstopper cast are the most divine bunch of humans. My tiny involvement in this beautiful fairy tale was a privilege and their treatment of my own beautiful young'un was gracious and inclusive. So very on brand,” Lucy wrote on /X.

While Lucy is best known for playing Natalie in the long-running soap, she also starred in the drama The Bill as DS Stevie Moss from 2008 to 2010. The actress then popped up in Cradle to Grave on the BBC in 2015, as well as small parts in ITV’s Marcella and Unforgotten. She then made her debut on The Archers as Stella Pryor last year, and was overjoyed to perform in a live episode of the Radio Four soap opera earlier this year at the Hay Festival.

While fans are delighted to see Lucy appear alongside a series of new faces on Heartstopper, many are devastated to discover Olivia Colman will not be returning to series three of the show. The Oscar-winning actress played Nick’s mother in seasons one and two, but was forced to exit her role due to scheduling conflicts. “I couldn't do number three. I couldn't fit it in. I feel awful about that,” she told Forbes in an interview earlier this year. spokesperson for the streaming service confirmed Olivia wouldn’t be returning, but she would not be recast. “There is no replacement casting for Olivia Colman in the upcoming season,” they added.

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