Louisa Lytton on fan backlash over EastEnders character Ruby Allen: 'It's really hard'

1 March 2021

Louisa Lytton is “worried” about fan backlash over her ‘EastEnders’ character Ruby Allen.

Louisa Lytton

The 32-year-old actress has admitted she’s found it “really hard” to cope with the harrowing storylines her alter-ego has been involved in recently, and has said she’s concerned fans of the BBC soap will begin to turn on Ruby after making some “really bad decisions”.

Most recently, Ruby has framed Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) as the killer of her unborn child after she took a tumble down the stairs during a fight with Stacey, although she actually lost the baby the day before the fight.

And now, Louisa is concerned fans have “already turned on” Ruby for framing Stacey, and has insisted the character deserves “empathy”.

She said: "It's really hard and it's something I've thought about a lot. Obviously, since Ruby has come back to the show, after the consent storyline, which got all of the audience on side as it would, she's then gone on to make some really bad decisions.

"I think a lot of the audience have already turned on her, and that was my worry, because at the time, I said, 'If we're doing a miscarriage story, you've got to have empathy for Ruby.’ Because it's such an important story that we're covering, you don't want to waste that on there being so much hate around Ruby that you sort of forget what's going on storyline-wise.”

Louisa is hoping audiences will soon realise Ruby is “just a desperate woman” and won’t hold a grudge against her for too long.

She added: "So, I'm hoping that people sort of see that she's just a desperate woman. And also there are people out there that do these terrible things.”

The actress also insisted she still finds it hard to cope when people are angry toward her character, but has “got a lot better” at separating herself from her role.

Speaking to Digital Spy, she explained: "I've got a lot better at taking myself out of it and knowing that it's just a character. But of course, it's hard because you fall in love with your character that you're playing, and you don't want them to do these terrible things. But she's not a mass murderer yet, so there is still a way to go!"