AS EastEnders troublemaker Janine Butcher, Charlie Brooks brought a medley of drama to Albert Square — from drug addiction and prostitution to murder.

Now the Walford witch has finally left the East End, she is taking her talent on tour, playing a wholly different incarnation — Sandra in iconic play Beautiful Thing.

Written by Jonathan Harvey, a regular writer for ITV’s Coronation Street, Beautiful Thing is an urban love story between two young men set on an inner city housing estate.

The story of teenager Jamie’s relationship with classmate and neighbour, Ste, Beautiful Thing is on at The Lowry, Salford Quays, from Monday until Saturday, April 18.

Together the two boys find comedy, warmth and the music of Mama Cass through their loud-mouthed next door neighbour Leah.

Charlie, who plays Sandra, Jamie’s mum and the local barmaid, said: “I was obsessed with the film when I was a kid, I watched it like 100 times, I was one of the cult followers really.

"I remember seeing Suranne (Jones) in the play last year and going ‘ooh, I want to do that, put me in it.

"Lo and behold, a year or two later here I am, so it’s like a dream come true.”

Pondering exactly why the iconic play resonates with her, the bubbly 33-year-old says: “Just the content of the story.

“I went to theatre school where I had lots of gay friends — I had a boyfriend that was gay," she laughs.

“So it’s always been important, the performances in the film were just amazing and it’s a great character for me, so it’s a really big draw all round.”

Speaking of the play's appeal to others, she adds: "There are still, especially in the regional areas where we are touring, people going through this very same issue and people still terrified of coming out, they don’t know how to do it and they are scared of talking about it.

"I think that it’s a timeless play — it’s brilliant, it’s funny, it’s sad and I think that it speaks to a lot of people still.”

Does she see any of herself in strong, young mum Sandra?

Charlie, who won ITV’s I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here in 2012 and BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2011, laughs: "Are you saying I’m a feisty single mum?

"What I’m hoping to do is to bring a great deal of warmth to it, know what I mean?

"She’s feisty, she’s loud, she’s not afraid to speak her mind, she’s had a hard life and fought to be where she is, fought to bring up that little boy, so the relationship that they have is one that’s very special in the end.

“And I’ve got some of the best lines — I just can’t wait to say them.”

Calling this, “completely different” from the television work for which she is best known, she admits she is feeling the nerves.

Charlie, who played Janine on and off since 1999 and left last year, said: "With learning lines in EastEnders, they go in very quickly — it’s in and out because it’s so quick and so fast-paced.

"I haven’t done a great deal of theatre so this is all quite new, so I’m bricking it to be honest. I just hope I’m ok. But it’s so exciting.

“I am busy, but it’s great because I feel like I am achieving what I set out to do when I left EastEnders, so I feel really, really lucky.

The tour will take her away from her daughter, Kiki, for 18 weeks, which was not an easy decision for the mother-of-one to make.

She said: “I love being at home, I love it. My daughter is 10 now which is such an important time and I’ve never been away or gone away with work, so when this came up I had a lengthy conversation with my immediate family members and decided that it was now my turn to be able to go off and spend time away.

"We have a few days off in between theatre moves so I’ll be able to get back and she’ll also come down and see me, so we’re going to make it work.

"But I am a bit nervous about it. She is very adaptable and my mum is there and her dad is there so I have a brilliant support system, we have a close knit family.”

When this tour comes to a close, the stage will be calling for Charlie once again.

She said: “I’m starting another play called Contact at the Park Theatre in Finsbury. It’s a new play about swinging.

"It’s a bit raunchy, which I’m a bit nervous about but it’s exciting.”