On 24 April 2004, it was announced that Wallace was pregnant with her first child and that she would take maternity leave from "EastEnders" later in the year. Wallace was intended to depart in December, however a pregnancy scare meant that she was forced to stop filming in August, and scripts featuring Kat subsequently had to be re-written. She returned to filming in February 2005 and made her on-screen return in May. Wallace signed a six-month contract in a reported bid to boost the show's ratings.