EastEnders favourite Jessie Wallace has revealed she cried upon learning that Michelle Ryan would be returning to the BBC soap.
It’s been a busy old week in Walford, with Zoe Slater making a grand return after 20 years away.
It’s something which Jessie has called for quite some time, and yet the two actresses didn’t share any screen time in the last few episodes.
Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) had reached out to Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) to tell him that a wayward Zoe had moved in with her, and was overspending on her credit card.
Zoe fabricated texts from Spanish loansharks, implying that they were trying to hunt her down and hurt her.
Just as Stace’ and Alfie grappled with her lies, Kat burst into the flat and her estranged daughter hid in the bedroom.
To evade being caught, she climbed out of the window and fled the area for Barcelona – with Alfie following, telling his wife that he was going to Australia to care for younger brother Spencer (Christopher Parker).
The huge week has been covered in a feature-length behind the scenes video – which can be viewed on the EastEnders YouTube channel now – and shows Michelle heading back to Elstree Studios for her first day of filming.
We see her in her dressing room, which has been marked ‘Sienna’ to keep her identity a secret, and chatting with new executive producer Ben Wadey about his vision.
She also sits down with Jessie, who is clearly elated to be with her co-star.
‘So, Michelle is back after 20 years’ she begins.
‘I’ve missed her tremendously, I’ve missed her, working with her, the whole Kat and Zoe thing, you know, going back to, “You ain’t my mother,” “Yes I am”.
‘And when I found out Michelle was coming back, I cried. And then when we met up, I cried because I’ve missed you.’
Jessie then states that it felt like being reunited with a child, and it’s obvious that theres a lot of love in the Slater clan, who first appeared in 2000.
‘Michelle’s gone off and done great things, and I’ve gone off and done other things, but I always come back because I love it here,’ she continued.
‘I feel like it’s my home. And now Michelle’s back it’s like having my daughter back again.’
Is Zoe Slater coming back to EastEnders for good?
Wednesday’s instalment marked the last time we’ll see Zoe – for now.
Alfie has headed to Barcelona, hoping to track her movements using the credit card payments.
In his departure scenes, he promised an oblivious Kat that he’d bring her the ‘best present ever’ home from ‘Australia’.
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Whether or not he manages to find Zoe remains to be seen, but we do know that Michelle is coming back for a permanent stint later in the year.
Undoubtedly many more iconic moments will follow, but will they ever be able to top the iconic ‘You ain’t my mother!’/’Yes I am!’ exchange between Kat and Zoe?
Some fans are already speculating about what might bring her back, and it’s been suggested that she has a son on The Square – none other than troubled sex offender Joel Marshall (Max Murray).
That would be one hell of a doof doof!
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