I was busy discussing the best cafés in Oxford and the merits of their cakes with Natalie Cassidy, Sonia from EastEnders, when I suddenly remembered: "But you don't eat cake do you?"

Because of course Natalie has been hitting the headlines recently, not for acting skills, but because she's shed loads of weight.

"Yes I do actually," she replied, surprising me.

"You have to treat yourself every now and again. And having got down to eight stone 3lb for the DVD (Natalie Cassidy's Then and Now Workout, which became the UK's fastest-selling weight-loss DVD ever), actually staying at that weight meant I'd have to work tremendously hard and not have a life," she laughs.

So instead we had a long chat about the pistachio cake at St Mary's Vaults, which she loves.

In fact, Natalie loves everything about Oxford, so much in fact that during her week-long stint at the Oxford Playhouse she'll be staying with one of her best friends in Jericho and viewing her visit here as a holiday.

"Yeah, my dad's coming up for a few days as well which'll be nice and I'm going to show him around a bit, take him to the colleges, Blenheim and the local pubs.

"But I love it in Oxford - the Bodleian and the tea gardens. I love everything about it, because when I was in A Bedroom Farce there last year I met my fiancé, so Oxford holds very special memories."

Natalie has been having a ball since leaving EastEnders because not only has the work been flowing in thick and fast but Natalie is also having time to do the everyday things that being in a soap 24/7 denied.

"I love being a jobbing actor and leading a normal life. If you're really passionate about your job, which I was in EastEnders, you dedicate yourself, your life and all your time to it. Now I'm in this wonderful play with Prunella Scales and Angela Lonsdale, yet I can go shopping and sit and drink coffee at outdoor cafés and it's really nice.

"And I've been really lucky since EastEnders - I've done a lot of theatre, presenting and a TV documentary.

"I've also only just finished The Cherry Orchard with Diana Rigg and a stellar cast and I thought to myself what am I doing here with all these wonderful actors. It's amazing."

What Natalie's not so keen on is the constant publicity around her recent weight gain.

"Well, now that I've put on a few pounds they love it, don't they," she said bitterly.

"I don't want to be hypocritical, because I made money from the DVD and I knew they'd be interested if I put on weight, but one minute they'd be saying how wonderful I look and the next they just knock you down.

"But it's been a good lesson for me because I have learned the hard way that actually I don't want to be in the public eye. "

Natalie is rarely found playing the celebrity card and falling out of nightclubs anyway.

"No, I fall out of my local pub in Islington instead," she laughs.

And because Natalie grew up in the public eye, she really doesn't notice it any more.

"To be honest I can't remember not being recognised and I have grown up with it because I joined EastEnders when I was 10 and now I'm 25. If you think about things like that too much I think you'd go mad."

So does anything phase her?

"Well I do get nervous before a performance, especially Gertrude's Secret because I have a 10-minute monologue, which is a big challenge for any actress and really nerve-wracking, but I like a challenge. In my line of work if you don't get nervous before a performance what's the point?"

Gertrude's Secret, also starring Prunella Scales and Angela Lonsdale, see below, is on from Tuesday to Saturday at Oxford playhouse. Box office on 01865 305035.