EastEnders has confirmed that Zoe Slater has a huge secret, which is stopping her from returning to Walford.
This week it was revealed that Zoe, who hasn’t been seen on screen for 20 years, has been staying with Stacey and is in a vulnerable state.
Stacey called on Alfie to help, but Zoe was adamant that if he told his wife and her estranged mum Kat, they would never see her again.
But Kat used a tracking app to find out where Alfie was, and she showed up at the flat alongside Jean and Harvey – leaving Zoe horrified.
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In today’s episode, Zoe hid in the bedroom before Alfie opened the door to Kat and Jean, who were confused about what was going on.
Alfie quickly devised a cover story and said that Stacey was struggling so she had called him for support, not wanting to be a burden to the Slaters.
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While Jean was concerned about her daughter’s welfare, Kat remained suspicious and found it difficult to believe the story when she found vapes and items of clothing that weren’t Stacey’s style – and in fact belonged to Zoe.
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As Kat and Jean began cleaning the messy flat, Stacey discreetly spoke to Zoe and pleaded with her to reunite with her mum, but Zoe couldn’t bring herself to.
Kat and Jean left, while Alfie insisted that he would stay with Stacey for a couple more hours. But Jean made Kat question her partner, so she returned to the flat to confront him and Stacey.
The final straw was when Kat heard movement in the bedroom and realised that someone was there. She investigated, and while it looked like Kat had finally clocked eyes on her daughter, Zoe had escaped out the window.
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Kat decided that she had been worrying about nothing, so apologised and headed home. But once she had left, Zoe rang Stacey and explained she had disappeared for good.
“I’ve done something,” she admitted, “something so bad, you’d never forgive me. You’d all hate me. Kat would hate me, just like she used to.”
Zoe then walked off into the night, leaving Stacey and Alfie disappointed. But with Michelle Ryan confirmed to be returning to EastEnders properly later this summer, when and why will we see Zoe again?
