Cindy is back – and she’s Rose Knight! (Picture: BBC)

EastEnders fans have been left stunned as the mystery of Rose Knight has finally been solved, with the show confirming that the elusive matriarch is none other than Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins)!

Talk about a shock twist!

The circumstances surrounding Rose’s disappearance has been the subject of much speculation among fans of the show, with Knight patriarch George’s (Colin Salmon) refusal to discuss her proving to be a red flag.

Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) was particularly taken aback by her soon-to-be stepdad’s insistence on leaving Rose in the past, which sparked the landlady to start an investigation into the elusive missing person.

After alerting Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) that his business partner was hiding something, Linda was stunned when the hard-man, with some assistance from Callum Highway (Tony Clay), explained that she was right to harbour concerns about Rose.

Wednesday’s (June 21) offering of the BBC One soap, which was withheld from BBC iPlayer, saw Phil continue his investigation, much to Linda’s delight, enlisting the help of Ritchie (Sian Webber), who used her contacts in the police to confirm that Rose is very much alive, thus dispelling Linda’s theory that George had murdered his wife.

George, who was less than pleased to find out about the investigation, was relieved to hear that Rose is still alive, though he was left speechless when Phil revealed to him in private that there was more twists to the tale.

Rose, you see, never actually existed, meaning that whoever George shared his life with, her name wasn’t Rose Knight.

The new Queen Vic landlord drowned his sorrows at the boozer, playing Seal’s iconic Kiss From A Rose, which was famously used in 1995 superhero flick Batman Forever, on the jukebox.

He attempted to call Rose to no avail. Shocking scenes ensued, however, with Rose revealed to be none other than Cindy Beale, who was seen sitting by a pool sipping on a glass.

EastEnders fans were left in shock as Cindy appeared on their screens for the first time in 25 years (Picture: BBC)

More: Trending

Though a number of viewers had predicted that this would, in fact, be the bigtwist, it’s safe to say that Twitter went into absolute meltdown all the same, with viewers raving about the monumental plot twist.

‘Knew it was happening but I still screamed when we seen her!,’ exclaimed one stunned fan. ‘Welcome back Cindy! Bring on tomorrow night!’

This is just the beginning (Picture: BBC)

‘CINDY BEALE IS ALIVE AND KICKING,’ stated another, while another added: ‘i can’t wait to see the looks on the knights and beales faces when cindy and ian rock up together.’

‘STORM CINDY BEALE HAS RETURNED!!!!!!’, exclaimed one excited social media viewer.

Fans will have to wait until 7:30pm tomorrow to see what happens next as the show explains how and why Cindy is back from the dead, not to mention where she’s been all this time.

One thing is for sure, however, and that’s that EastEnders is well and truly back on top where, some might argue, it belongs.

EastEnders continues Thursday June 22 at 7:30pm on BBC One.

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Talk about a plot twist!