EastEnders breaks silence on Zoe’s twin and if we’ll see him

EastEnders boss Ben Wadey has spoken out about Zoe Slater’s (Michelle Ryan) ‘forgotten’ twin.

That’s right – she has a twin brother, Dermott, or at least that’s what former executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins made us think.

When viewers were first introduced to the soap legend and the rest of the Slater clan in 2000, we were led to believe that Zoe and Kat (Jessie Wallace) were sisters.

Over a year later, that all unravelled when it was revealed that Kat was actually her mother, having been sexually abused by her uncle and falling pregnant at the age of 13.

Kat’s parents Charlie (Derek Martin) and Viv then raised Zoe as their own.

However, many years later, she discovered that she’d actually had twins. The turmoil of the situation meant that she had no idea of baby Luke’s existence.

She and husband Alfie (Shane Richie) struck lucky when they became millionaires with thanks to a scratch-card win, and they decided to move to Spain.

During a short return to Walford – that sadly coincided with the death of her father Charlie – sister Belinda (Carli Norris) noted that she remembered a trip to the Irish fishing village of Redwater in her youth, and this could lead to Kat discovering Luke’s whereabouts.

Who is Dermott Dolan, and what was Kat and Alfie: Redwater?

Luke, now named Dermott, worked as a vicar and we finally met him in a special spin-off series that aired in 2017.

Kat and Alfie: Redwater was flawed from the outset, completely altering the iconic characters’ styles and forgetting the existence of their twin boys Bert and Ernie.

Producer Dominic believed that they would limit their parents’ ability to delve deeper into the drama, if they had two young children to care for. They were, however, joined by elder son Tommy (then Henry Proctor).

One plot that was retailed was Alfie’s diagnosis with a brain tumour, and at the conclusion of the series it seemed like he flatlined on the operating table.

Meanwhile, Kat met Dermott and discovered he was a killer.

He was responsible for causing a boating accident, which saw Kat being dragged beneath the water – apparently to her death.

Has Dermott been mentioned since?

The timeline in which the show was set was a bit of a mess – for example, Kat and Alfie left for their trip in January 2016, but didn’t send a postcard to Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) until May 2017, when the episodes dropped on BBC One.

Within Redwater, the events took place in 2015, when Kat originally discovered her son’s existence.

As we know, Kat and Alfie are still very much alive. It’s like the events of Redwater, and the preceding storylines leading up to it, happened within some sort of alternate reality.

Shane Richie told Metro at the time: ‘Redwater was always going to be one series we were led to believe and then we’d come back to EastEnders but of course the show was never as big as they thought it was going to be, personally because I think Redwater sent out mixed messages.

‘But we do talk about certain characters, so those who have watched will see the link there. To not mention it, it just seemed a bit silly, so we do.

‘But we don’t harp on about it, because of course at the end of Redwater, Alfie was flatlining, Kat had been eaten by a whale or something, I don’t know, whatever happened there!’

Some years on, Hayley Slater (Katie Jarvis) and Mo Harris (Laila Morse) discussed Dermott’s existence.

In more recent episodes, Kat told Anthony Trueman (Nicholas Bailey) about having three boys – and Zoe.

So he’s seemingly vanished into thin air.

What has Ben Wadey said about Dermott?

Ben was put on the spot during a recent press event when Dermott’s existence was brought into question.

Cast members Jake Wood, Scott Maslen, Jacqueline Jossa and Pierre Moullier, who play Max, Jack, Lauren and Oscar Branning burst into laughter as he awkwardly tried to explain his stance on the matter.

‘That’s an interesting question. Erm…,’ he began.

More laughter ensued, before he continued: ‘It was a brilliant show, Redwater. A fair few years ago now.

‘It adds a different element in a, for now, parallel universe to Walford.’

Scott then chirped: ‘That’s a no then.’

Oh, ok then.

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