Diane Parish says one of the biggest losses in 2020 was "human connection".
Diane Parish
The 'EastEnders' actress - who plays Denise Fox on the BBC One soap - has reflected on the coronavirus pandemic-blighted year, and admitted she hopes we will be able to "go back to the old normal but with clearer vision" in 2021.
She said: "My hopes for 2021 are that we start seeing the light through this incredibly dark tunnel. That we have some hope in terms of treatment, that we can start allowing people to see their loved ones again and be around people.
"No one could have predicted that we would have something like that taken away from us this time last year. If somebody wrote that in a newspaper and told us we would have laughed, and said it was ridiculous! I hope we can go back to the old normal but with clearer vision, and be better and wiser for it, and take in some value for the things that we gained in this year, which is to value simplicity.
"I am trying to embody that for myself and my children. The biggest loss hasn’t been things, but human connection. I hope that in 2021 we are all able to get that back.
"I miss dancing, I miss being around strangers. I miss my children just being with their friends and doing what they want - things that we took for granted."
Diane is hoping her character will have "lots of smiles and laughs" in 2021, and she wants Denise, her sister Kim Fox (Tameka Empson) and her daughter Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams) to form a "special relationship" this year.
She added: "My hope for Denise is lots and lots of smiles and laughs! I hope for really good family fun times.
"I would love for her, Kim and Chelsea to form a special relationship between the three of them. That would be lovely to see - the dynamics of those three women.
"I really look forward to that and Patrick back to his old pesky self! The Trueman/Fox family, perhaps with Jack, being the life and soul of the party which they normally are, a real force in the show.
"I want them to have some happy times to see some real bubbly life, and get their business up and running to where it was."
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