Former Grange Hill star Lisa Hammond will play Donna Yates, a market trader who will try and take down rivals Bianca and Kat.
Initially the character wasn’t supposed to be in a wheelchair, but Lisa impressed at her audition so the character was changed.
Speaking of her new role, Lisa said: “I’m really excited to join the cast of Eastenders. It’s a great opportunity to be part of such a big and popular show.
“Donna is a bit of a handful but they’re always the most fun characters to play. It feels good to be bad!”
Donna will be the soap’s second regular disabled character, after David Proud played Adam Best from 2009 to 2010.
Eastenders executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins said of the new character: “Donna is not an easy character to like at first. As we get to know her better, however, we will discover a funny, loyal but also fragile woman underneath.
“Lisa is a brilliantly comic and sharp actress and we’ve been trying to get her into the Eastenders cast for a long time – so I am delighted that it has finally happened.”
Eastenders is currently playing out a very dramatic storyline as Kat Moon prepares to testify in support of guilty murderer Janine Butcher in order to clear cousin Stacey Branning’s name.