EastEnders icon Michelle Collins has delighted fans with the reveal of an epic throwback snap from her first week on the soap.
As scheming Cindy Beale Michelle kept viewers gripped for 10 years thanks to her manipulative ways and doomed romance to hapless businessman Ian Beale.
While Cindy went on to become one of the BBC soap's central characters, Michelle admitted it took a long time for her to feel proud of her work as there was a lot of 'snobbery' in the industry.
She said for a long time she even pretended her soap past didn't exist.
Revealing how she'd finally accepted her start in acting, Michelle took to Instagram to share a snap from one of her first ever scenes on Albert Square back in 1988.
A fresh faced Michelle was seen sporting a peroxide bob, dark eyes and fuchsia lipstick as she transformed into man-eater Cindy.
'My first week #filming. I was #26 years old ! #timeflys #memories #nostalgia and I m still here !! #actorslife. #babyface #redlips #bobhaircut #fringe
"People used to write in and complain my roots needed doing ! ! I used to try and pretend she didn’t exist a lot of #snobbery in my industry about being in a #soap etc now I just #embrace her she was a big part of my life !" said Michelle.
Michelle had only been booked to appear in 11 EastEnders episodes but ended up staying with the soap for ten years after becoming a fan favourite.
She became one of the show's love-to-hate villains as she married and cheated on Ian Beale.
Michelle left the soap in 1998 with her character dying off screen in child birth.
After leaving the show Michelle went on to appear in the BBC series Real Women and Sunburn - for which she had a number 28 hit with singing the theme tune.
In 2011 Michelle shocked fans by joining the cast of Coronation Street.
She played Stella Price the new landlady of the Rovers Return, after beating The Bill's Lisa Maxwell for the part.
Michelle lasted just two years in the soap after claiming she was 'unhappy' with her lack of screen time.
Since then Michelle has enjoyed guest roles on TV dramas Casualty, Death in Paradise and Midsomer Murders.
