Cindy didn’t expect this – and nor did we! (Picture: BBC)
EastEnders fans were prepared for the unexpected when they tuned in to the special week that sees Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) make her long-awaited comeback.
But the late, great Fatboy Chubb making a comeback? Nope, that certainly wasn’t on our list.
For a special flashback scene, Ricky Norwood has reprised his role as the much-loved cheeky character, who innocently asked ‘dead’ Cindy and her handler for the time.
It has long been contentious among viewers that innocent Fatboy was killed off in such a gruesome way.
In a dark Christmas storyline, Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack) ordered a hit on Vincent Hubbard (Richard Blackwood).
However, poor Fats, the BFF of Dot Cotton, was caught in the crossfire and, in a case of mistaken identity, he was murdered in his place.
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So, she was there all along! Honest! (Picture: BBC)
A horrifying scene saw Vincent open the boot of a crushed car to see the remains of Fatboy inside.
It was particularly harrowing after, in a previous episode, Fatboy revealed that he had a long-held fear of tight spaces.
Some viewers have called for Fatboy to come back – after all, we didn’t see the body ourselves.
Current show boss Chris Clenshaw has figured out a workaround – only months from servicing fans with a brief Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) reappearance, he has scripted an unexpected Fatboy cameo.
Right into the soap’s biggest and most camp week of the year so far, no less!
We never realised how much we missed Fatboy ’til now! (Picture: BBC)
Cindy is clearly not an EastEnders: E20 fan (Picture: BBC)
Cindy is back in Walford, and trying to explain to George Knight (Colin Salmon) what has been going on.
A flashback showed her leaving him and her daughters, after learning Lucy had died.
She is shown appearing in Walford, watching Ian (Adam Woodyatt) from afar, as he grieves the horrific loss.
Splicing old episode footage with newly filmed material (retcon, where!?), it is claimed that Cindy was there all along.
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But handler was able to bundle her in a car and remind her of the risk of being outed as alive.
A tongue-in-cheek scene saw Fatboy annoy the pair by asking – in a very Fatboy-from-nearly-a-decade-ago way – for the time.
Cindy’s fears that he might have been working for her enemies were briefly dismissed.
He wasn’t that type of guy!
MORE : EastEnders trailer ‘confirms’ stalker Theo Hawthorne’s shocking end as Stacey Slater is held captive
Is anyone actually dead!?