Bissix played Clare Bates in the 1990s when she was nine years old and now she’s shared what it was like to make an emotional return.
The actress lives in Surrey with her husband Kristian Ruse and two daughters, Juliette, 10, and eight-year-old Vienna.
Speaking to The Sun on Sunday, Gemma, 42, said she always thought about a return to EastEnders in the future.
Gemma Bissix on emotional return to EastEnders after 18 years
In 2025, she was in another soap, Hollyoaks, with her character killer Clare Devine returning for six months.
She’s back on EastEnders now for an emotional storyline as her stepdad Nigel has dementia.
Gemma’s children and grandma Tina, 86, are pleased she’s back on EastEnders and no longer plays a twisted character.
Gemma told The Sun: “My grandmother said, ‘I want the Women’s Institute people to be proud of you.
“‘They don’t want to watch you being a murderous seductress’.
“She’s a staunch Catholic. I told her it was quite emotional what I’ve done in EastEnders and she said, ‘Oh that’s great,’ and I was like, ‘Oh right — so you want to see me cry?’”
It’s not just the return to EastEnders and the dementia storyline that makes it emotional though, as Gemma had a close bond with fellow EastEnders star Dame Barbara Windsor, who had Alzheimer’s.
Dame Barbara died in 2020, aged 83.
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Gemma said: “Barbara was such an amazing friend to me.
“She got me my agent when I left EastEnders at 15.
“She was just an amazing woman, and her husband Scott — what an amazing man.
“He sent me messages saying how proud she was of me because I’d started out so young.
“Scott told me that Barbara always said that I was going to be a star. How lovely is that?”
Gemma said her friend’s dad also had dementia: “My good friend’s dad had early onset dementia.
“He was in a care home when we were in our 20s and we used to drive down from Surrey with her every couple of weeks to see him.
“It’s such a heartbreaking disease.”
Gemma Bissix said her EastEnders return felt like ‘coming home’
Filming her scenes in December and January felt like “coming home” for Gemma, she said.
She said: “All the guys from the market, all the supporting artists, long-standing regulars — they all said I hadn’t changed a bit.
“I was like, thank you! It’s only 20 years and I have aged a bit.”
Returning to the soap meant she was reunited with her onscreen stepdad who she hadn’t seen for 26 years but she said it was easy slotting back into the family.
The actors worked together on the soap from 1993 to 1998.
She said: “We keep an eye on each other on social media a little bit.
“When we saw each other it was like no time had passed at all.”
Speaking to EastEnders, she said: “It was a real pleasure to be asked to reprise the role of Clare for Nigel’s storyline.
“I was hoping to get the call as I think the fans wanted EastEnders to revisit their relationship.
“Nigel and Clare were a formidable pairing in the 90’s with a very unique stepfather/stepdaughter relationship!
“It has been so great to reconnect with Paul and Karen after all these years, and it’s crazy how time felt like it had stopped when we did!
“I grew up on the set of EastEnders and essentially learnt my craft there, so it’s been a real full circle moment!
“Whilst it will be an emotional reunion, I hope the viewers will be pleased to see Clare and Nigel on screen together once again!”
Being a child star wasn’t all positive though, as Gemma experienced bullying at school.
She said: “At school they used to pick on you because you were that girl from EastEnders.
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“Thankfully, I had a tough skin at that age.
“Boys would ask you out then dump you the next day just because they could say that they did that to the girl from EastEnders.
“I’ve helped with anti-bullying campaigns. Luckily I was really young when it happened to me so it wasn’t too damaging.”
She left EastEnders when she was 14 and turned her hand to a completely different career once she left school.
She said: “My dad had an electrical wholesale shop and my brother has got an electrical wholesale shop now.
“My husband has a skip company, so I’m very much still in the building trade.
“I still do the voiceovers for my husband’s company.”
Gemma Bissix’s first scene was with Jessie Wallace
Discussing her first scene back on EastEnders, which included Jessie Wallace’s iconic character Kat Slater, who is 5ft 1”, Gemma said: “We were doing a scene and the director said: ‘Could you reach up to these balloons?’
“Jessie was sitting round the corner, and I don’t know why, but I said, ‘Are you sure you can reach them?’
“She joked: ‘Oi! Of course I can — what are you saying?’ It was in Jessie’s trademark laugh.
“I felt at ease because you really feel like you’re part of an ensemble.”
Gemma said her kids are excited to see her return to EastEnders, with them asking if they’d move into a mansion, but she warned them: “Don’t get ahead of yourself — it’s only a few episodes.”
However, when it comes to a permanent stint on the show, Gemma said “never say never”.
