EastEnders icon Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) makes a dramatic return to Albert Square on Monday (September 22), only to be confronted by a ghost from her past.
After the tragic passing of her close friend Martin Fowler (James Bye) in February, Sharon was reunited with her adoptive half-sister, Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig). Following Martin’s heart-wrenching funeral, Sharon departed Walford to comfort her grieving friend, Michelle Fowler (Jenna Fowler), in Australia.
However, Sharon makes a grand re-entrance to the Square on Monday (September 22), completely unaware that Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) has also made a comeback after a two-decade hiatus.
Before her departure, Sharon had lent money to Vicki, who in turn used the funds to assist her partner, Ross Marshall (Alex Walkinshaw), in compensating a victim of his troubled teenage son, Joel Marshall (Max Murray).
Now, Sharon finally returns to Walford, young son Albie in tow, and in a sneak peek at the tense episode, she is far from pleased to see Zoe, reports OK!.
As the Walford veteran steps out of a black cab, she receives the shock of her life when she spots Zoe staring back at her from outside the Slater house across the Square.
The pair engage in a dramatic silent standoff, with no words exchanged, before a taken aback Sharon retreats to her home with young Albie, leaving Zoe looking on in confusion.
What happened between Sharon and Zoe in EastEnders?
In the early 2000s, Zoe was romantically involved with Sharon’s adoptive brother Dennis Rickman, played by Nigel Harman. This relationship quickly made Zoe a rival in love for Sharon, who had developed feelings for Dennis.
Dennis reciprocated Sharon’s feelings and they kept their relationship hidden from their father, Dirty Den, portrayed by Leslie Grantham. The couple planned to leave Albert Square together on Christmas Day in 2004.
However, in an attempt to thwart their plans, Den persuaded Zoe to falsely claim she was pregnant with Dennis’s child, aiming to ruin Sharon’s relationship.
This scheme ended Dennis and Sharon’s romance, with him deciding to stay with Zoe, oblivious to the fact that her pregnancy was a fabrication.
As Zoe attempted to conceive, Den convinced her to sleep with him in the hope of getting pregnant and retaining Dennis.
When Dennis discovered Zoe in bed with his father, he immediately ended their relationship. He then rekindled his romance with Sharon, and they later tied the knot.
Meanwhile, Zoe found herself pregnant with Den’s child.
However, she was coaxed into having an abortion by Den’s unsettled wife, Chrissie Watts, played by Tracy-Ann Oberman, leading to a new storyline unfolding.
Chrissie and Zoe joined forces with a disgruntled Sam Mitchell, portrayed by Kim Medcalf, to exact further revenge on the villainous Den and pave the way for Sharon’s return to witness her father’s true nature.
Den was not pleased about the trio’s plan and violently attacked Chrissie in The Vic until Zoe hit him with a doorstop, halting him in his tracks.
Zoe believed she had fatally wounded Den in an attempt to save Chrissie’s life, but after Zoe had departed the scene, Den regained consciousness, only for Chrissie to deliver the final, deadly blow.
Sam was a witness to the true events, but both she and Chrissie allowed Zoe to believe she was a murderer. Den’s body was subsequently buried in a shallow grave beneath the pub’s barrel store and covered with concrete.
In due course, Sam revealed the truth to Zoe, leading to a heated confrontation during which Zoe struck Chrissie. Zoe also admitted that she had terminated Den’s baby and had not suffered a miscarriage as previously claimed.
In 2005, Zoe reconciled with Dennis and Sharon before departing Walford for a fresh start in Ibiza. Chrissie was later found guilty of Den’s murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In recent episodes of EastEnders, Zoe confirmed that she gave birth to twins in 2006, and is convinced her daughter died shortly after birth, while her son survived before she abandoned him. The identity of the twins’ father remains unknown.
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One and iPlayer
