EastEnders’ actress Lisa Hammond is hoping there will be more romance between her character Donna Yates and Arthur “Fatboy” Chubb.

Viewers of the BBC soap will see a softer side to the market trader when Donna and Fatboy (played by Ricky Norwood) enjoy a kiss in the October 13 episode.

Donna and Fatboy kiss in EastEnders
Donna and Fatboy kiss in EastEnders (Kieron McCarron/BBC)

The actress told Inside Soap: “Fatboy has got a bit of an edge to him, but he’s very nice. Donna’s probably gone for a flash guy in the past, but Fats is kind-hearted and he can handle her attitude as well.

“They’re good mates, so I think they’d make a great match.”

Lisa said the kissing scene – her first on the show – had its challenges.

“It was actually really funny, as things kept going wrong in the studio every time we went to kiss. A light cracked, and then we kept having to redo it through various problems like that,” she explained.

Donna and Fatboy in EastEnders
Donna and Fatboy in EastEnders (Kieron McCarron/BBC)

She continued: “Myself and Ricky just resigned ourselves to the fact that we would have to keep kissing over and over!”

Lisa credited her co-star for making the scenes comfortable.

“It’s my first screen kiss for EastEnders so initially it did feel a bit ‘Woah’. But our director was brilliant and Ricky is so professional that it wasn’t a big deal,” she said.

“I’ve worked on other shows in the past where I’ve had to snog someone – after only having known the actor for a day! What’s been lovely this time is that I’ve been able to spend the last year and a half with Ricky, getting to know him.”