Danniella Westbrook is returning to 'EastEnders'.

The 35-year-old actress will play troublemaker Sam Mitchell, who fled to Brazil in the soap in 2005.

Danniella - whose public battle with cocaine addiction left her with a horribly disfigured nose - was kicked off the BBC series in 2000, with the role of Sam handed over to Kim Medcalf.

Danniella now returns to filming in June and said she is thrilled to be back on the show.

She told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "I'm really happy - it feels just like coming home. I'm looking forward to working with the others and I can't wait to get the scripts to see what Sam has been up to since she was last in the Square."

'EastEnders' executive producer Diederick Santer added: "It feels like a great time to bring back Sam."

Danniella joined 'EastEnders' in 1990 when she was just 16 years old.

She left the show three years later but rejoined the cast in 1995. By then, her cocaine use was reportedly out of control and producers were forced to write her out of the soap in 1996.

She was given a second chance in Albert Square in 1999 - producers even agreed to film her from angles that hid her septum, which had been eroded by drug use - but was again asked to leave in 2000.