Jessie Wallace stands by baby swap storyline

Jessie Wallace is standing by EastEnders' controversial cot death storyline.

The 39-year-old actress - who plays grief-stricken mum Kat Moon in the BBC One soap - explained she viewed taking part in the harrowing scenes, which saw Ronnie Branning (Samantha Womack) swap her dead baby with Kat's, as "doing her job".

She told BANG Showbiz: "I stand by it. We're actors at the end of the day, we do our job and then we go home. It's drama, that's it."

Meanwhile, Jessie - who returned to the show in 2010 after a five-year hiatus - also backed co-star Samantha Womack's decision to leave 'EastEnders', as she believes the "fantastic" actress will move on to "bigger and better things".

Speaking at Wednesday night's (26.01.11) National Television Awards (NTAs), she said: "I'm sure she'll move onto bigger and better things. She's a fantastic actress who played a brilliant role in a fantastic storyline so I wish her all the best."

Despite attracting almost 9,000 viewer complaints regarding the sensitive nature of the baby swap storyline, EastEnders swept the board at this week's NTAs, picking up the highly-coveted Most Popular Serial Drama, Most Popular Newcomer and Most Outstanding Serial Drama Performance awards.