EastEnders fans have worked who dies at Christmas after a creepy cliffhanger during last night's episode (Tuesday, July 11).
Earlier this year, the soap revealed that someone will be murdered this Christmas in a special flashforward episode that saw six Walford women — Stacey Slater, Suki Panesar, Linda Carter, Sharon Watts, Denise Fox and Kathy Beale all standing over an unknown corpse at the Vic.
In a surprise twist that EastEnders has never done before, the episode flashed forward to Christmas 2023 where a wedding was taking place at the Vic. It was soon revealed that Sharon was the bride as she was wearing a blood-splattered wedding dress.
Stacey could be seen with blood on her hands, Denise was holding a broken bottle of champagne, Linda had a split lip, Kathy had a ripped dress sleeve and a mystery male was seen lying dead on the floor of the pub.
There were some clues scattered around the flashforward scene to give us hints as to who has been killed, particularly a pair of amber cufflinks the deceased male was wearing.
Since then, fans have been trying to uncover the identity of the mystery body — but in last night's episode, an eerie cliffhanger between Stacey and her stalker Theo Hawthorne (William Ellis) gave viewers a feeling that they know who the Christmas corpse could be.
Stacey is oblivious to the fact that Lily Slater's (Lillia Turner) teacher, Theo, is the anonymous client who has been paying her for explicit photos and is tutoring her pregnant daughter as a way to get closer to Stacey.
Martin Fowler (James Bye) has already tried to warn his ex-wife about Theo's dodgy behaviour, but Stacey has sided with Theo and even pursued things further by going on a date with him in last night's episode.
After Martin made it clear that he disapproved of their date, it only made a stubborn Stacey even more determined to go along and spite Martin.
During the date at Walford East, it was clear that Stacey felt awkward and was definitely not feeling a romantic connection with Theo.
After Stacey asked Theo if he was tutoring Lily to try and get close to her, Theo disappeared to the toilet. When he returned, he told her about his troubled upbringing and apologised for crossing any boundaries.
As the pair made amends, Theo walked Stacey back home and asked if they could go on another date. An uncomfortable Stacey hesitantly accepted his offer, before turning away from his kiss.
Later on, Theo sent Stacey a flirty text saying: "Thanks for lunch. Sleep tight," and as Stacey tried to think of a reply, she just sent him a thumbs up emoji instead.
We then saw Theo sitting in his car outside Stacey's house with a sinister smirk on his face as he swiped through the erotic photos of Stacey. He then stared at Stacey through her window as his smile turned into a disturbing glare.
As Theo's obsessive behaviour spiralled, fans think that Theo is the Christmas murder victim and took to Twitter to share their theories...
Omg I think Theo will be the one murdered at Christmas! Maybe Stacey stalker hell will get much worse and maybe Theo will target other walford women #EastendersJuly 11, 2023
I reckon theo will try and r*pe stacey christmas day and the six will kill him, or maybe even martin #EastEndersJuly 11, 2023
I think the body is either Theo or Nish and I think they go away for a while and come back at Christmas for revenge and goes to attack either Stacey or Suki and gets killed #Eastenders #TheSixJuly 11, 2023
My theory on Christmas murder : I think the person killed is Theo, I feel his obsession with Stacey Will intensify when she decides she wants to get back with Martin, I feel Theo will attack or try to rape Stacey and Theo is murdered in the pub. #EastEndersJuly 11, 2023
EastEnders continues tonight at 7:30pm on BBC One.
