Jo Joyner's 'EastEnders' departure is for the sake of her children.
The actress revealed she hasn't seen her twins - three-year-old son Freddie and daughter Edie - enough since their birth and worried she would miss out by being away so much.
Jo - who has played mother Tanya Cross since 2006 - had to go through IVF treatment before she and actor husband Neil Madden could have children and now she wants to enjoy her family life as much as she can.
She told The Sun newspaper's TV Magazine: "I'm not frightened of hard work but I had three months of six-day weeks with 12-hour days, then I'd have to learn my lines on top of that.
"We've been renting a place that's only 15 minutes from the studio, but even then i could go three whole days without seeing my children at all."
The star had originally planned a "sabbatical" from the soap before extending it to an indefinite departure, and this was prompted by the realisation she could miss out on quality time with the twins.
She added: "The six or seven-month sabbatical I was intending to take wasn't going to be long enough.
"Freddie and Edie are looking bigger and bigger in their beds, and while Neil has been an amazing house husband, they're three and a half now so this is their last summer at home before they start school.
"In years to come I wouldn't be going: 'Ooh, great, I've got lots more money in the bank', I would be saying: 'Wow, where did my children go?' "
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