Josephine Jobert on Death in Paradise return, how Florence is coping with her loss and whether she'll be back for season 11

The French star sat out the ninth series of the show and, in an exclusive Q&A with RadioTimes.com ahead of the new series premiere, she admitted that she didn't always think she would return to the show.

"Not really," she said when asked if she'd always thought she would come back. "I remember Tim [Key, executive producer] called me I was in Los Angeles to tell me about the story in series eight, and I remember he told me about the fact that I would have a boyfriend. I wasn't really excited about this, but then he told me that he was going to die and I was like 'Yaaay!'"

Laughing, she clarified, "I know it's terrible for the character but, as an actor, it's really cool to have to play those scenes, so I was really excited about this.

"And he told me, 'We're not going to kill you, just in case one day you'd like to come back on the show,' and I'm really happy he didn't kill me!"

Florence was last seen in series eight following the death of her fiancé Patrice Campbell (Leemore Marrett Jr), and Jobert revealed the events of that series are still having a deep effect on her character.

"She lost her fiancé a few days before their wedding so she's still devastated but she's a strong woman and she agreed to come back on the island and in the team," she explained.

"So I think she thought, I'm going to come back but I'm not going to let people see that I'm struggling with my pain, because she's a strong woman and she's really proud, but you'll see that it's not that easy just to choose not to be in pain.

"But she's strong and she loves her job; she loves her partners and Neville (Ralf Little) will help her with the grieving," the actress continued. "And we have a lovely scene together when she's like, 'How am I going to do, am I allowed to move on with my life and have someone else?' and he finds the right words to help her – and that's a lovely scene."

Now she's back, many fans will be wondering if Florence is here to stay for the long term, but asked if she was going to stick around in Saint Marie beyond series 10, Jobert didn't give much away.

"Nobody knows," she said. "I don't die in series 10, that's all I can say. But I'm not allowed to say if I come back next series or if I don't, so I'll let you watch series 10 and guess if I come back next year."

While question marks might remain over Jobert's future on the series, the same is not true for the show itself – with Death in Paradise having been renewed for two more seasons earlier this week.

Death in Paradise continues on Thursday 14th January at 9pm on BBC One. While you’re waiting, visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.