Long-time EastEnders fans are due for a shock later this year as a character who was killed off more than two decades ago returns. Cindy Beale, the former wife of Ian Beale (played by Adam Woodyatt) is set to return to Walford 25 years after being killed off in prison offscreen in 1998.
The shock storyline, which had been planned to remain a secret until it was aired, looks set to see Ian head back to Albert Square after a two-year absence. The Mirror reports that the storyline was leaked and Michelle Collins will be reprising her role to return with Ian in what looks set to be a shock twist for Walford residents and viewers at home.
Full details of her return are yet to be confirmed, but could she have been the mystery character viewers saw Ian speaking to on the phone during his brief return at Dot's funeral in December 2022? Michelle Collins previously said she had no plans to come back to the soap, but it is thought that the duo have already begun filming their comeback scenes.
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For those unfamiliar with the character, Cindy was dubbed an EastEnders villain back in the day and one of her storylines included trying to have her husband killed by a hitman. Could all be forgiven now - and what does her being alive mean for all of Ian's wives that came after?
Ian is no stranger to loved ones faking their death, as his own mother Kathy Beale returned from the dead in 2016. However, currently none of Cindy's children are in Walford - with Cindy Jr and Peter out of the show, daughter Lucy killed off in 2014 and son Steven in 2017 - so questions around their knowledge of their mum being alive may also be sparked by her reappearance.
And, with Lucy having been murdered by Bobby, will Cindy ever be able to forgive him?
In a pretty similar storyline two years ago, Ian fled Walford after his most recent partner Sharon Watts tried to poison him after discovering he had been involved in the death of her son Dennis. Dennis drowned after a boat crash in 2020 and couldn't escape after being locked in a room by Ian following a row over his son Bobby.
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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