A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD girl will be making her debut appearance in one of the nation’s most popular soap operas.

It was a dream come true for bright-eyed Molly Conlin when she found out she had landed a part in BBC1’s East Enders.

The excited youngster from the Halstead area has spent the past month learning her lines and filming her first scenes on set as Nick Cotton’s daughter, Dottie.

She will make her first appearance in Albert Square on Boxing Day and star alongside June Brown, who plays her grandmother Dot Branning, and John Altman, who plays the notorious “Nasty Nick”.

Molly said: “I’m really excited about it because I have always wanted to be in East Enders.

“All the other actors and actresses were really friendly and kind to me.”

Prior to landing this role, Molly had already made several television appearances.

She first appeared on our screens at the age of four in an advert for Ragu pasta sauce, as well as in adverts for Heinz baked beans and Bold 2-in-1.

Molly’s mother, Sarah Rutter, 32, said: “I’m very proud.

“When Molly found out she’d got the part she reacted the same way a grown-up would if they had won the lottery.

“She was screaming, and when I put the phone down she burst out crying and said: ‘I’m so happy’.”

Molly has been signed up at the Sylvia Young agency, Marylebone, for the past four years and originally auditioned for the part of Bianca Jackson’s daughter – Tiffany.

It was decided she was too old for that character, but producers liked what they saw and offered her an audition for the part of Dottie.

Molly said: “Even though the part of Dottie was supposed to be for an 11-year-old, they asked me to come to audition and I got the part.

“They have now changed Dottie’s character to be seven years old, but they have kept some of the original script and I had to learn a big passage out of the Bible.”

The youngster added: “My favourite people on the set are all the children who play the Jackson family, and John and June, who play my family.

“This is definitely the best job I have had.”

Molly’s six-year-old brother, Jack, also has the acting bug. He has appeared in The Bill and is currently filming in a video for Coldplay.

Molly is the latest in a number of north Essex youngsters to appear in East Enders, but most have had walk-on parts as extras.