Lily Slater (Lillia Turner) has left Albert Square, realising that she needed time away from mum Stacey (Lacey Turner) in the wake of her father Martin Fowler’s (James Bye) death.

Martin tragically passed away in February, falling victim to the horrific explosion that tore through The Queen Vic pub.

There seemed to be a glimmer of hope as he made his exit towards the barrel store with Stacey, but a beam fell from the ceiling and crushed him.

As he lay dying, he confessed his love for Stace – telling her that his reunion with Ruby Allen (Louisa Lytton) was a mistake.

She’s struggled to cope with her grief in the wake of the incident, and has locked herself away in her bedroom.

The situation came to a head this week when poor Lily had been left to look after younger siblings Arthur (Rocco Brenner) and Hope (Isabelle Smith), alongside her own daughter Charli.

Stacey broke down upon realising that her phone – which contained precious memories of Martin – had been washed at the laundrette. Luckily, Arthur had retained Martin’s device, but Lily didn’t think that possessing it would help with her grief.

Mother and daughter wrestled with the phone, with a vicious argument soon ensuing. As a result, Lily declared that she was packing her bags and going to stay with Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott).

But who is Ryan, you ask? We’ve got all the information you need on that front.

Who is Ryan Malloy in EastEnders?

Ryan is Lily’s biological dad.

As long-time viewers will recall, he is also Whitney Dean’s (Shona McGarty) brother. He made his Walford debut back in 2009, rocking up in the Square to reveal his identity to his sister.

Shortly afterwards, he embarked on a relationship with Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks), with the two later getting married.

Things, however, became complicated, as Ryan had slept with Stacey, who later discovered that she was pregnant.

Bradley Branning (Charlie Clements), who was married to Stacey at the time, believed the baby to be his, but when he added up the dates, he realised that this was simply not possible.

Stacey believed that the father was Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb), who had raped her in a harrowing storyline, but Ronnie (Samantha Womack) informed her that the baby couldn’t be Archie’s, which led her to realise that Ryan was the dad.

Ryan, meanwhile, remained in the dark about Lily being his child, but after he rescued her from a fire, Stacey told him the truth.

He struggled to process the news at first and showed no interest in being a father, but subsequent scenes saw him reconsider, telling both Janine and Stacey of his intentions to be there for Lily.

The chemistry between he and Stacey ignited once more, and they began an affair, but when Janine found out, she resorted to poisoning Ryan.

The truth about Janine’s actions were revealed, and Ryan chose to be with Stacey, much to Janine’s horror, as she plotted revenge on her love rival – even stabbing herself and claiming Stacey was to blame.

Stacey fled with Lily. Ryan, meanwhile, departed Walford after Rob Grayson – who had exploited Whitney – wound up dead following a showdown, forcing him to go on the run.

Ryan returned to Walford in 2014 for a short period, and again in 2016, adamant that he wanted to be a dad to Lily, but he stole money from the Queen Vic safe, before trying to flee.

Afterwards, he met with Whitney and Mick Carter (Danny Dyer), returning the money he stole, before agreeing to hand himself into the police on the condition that Whit and Lily visit him in prison.

He was later released due to a lack of evidence, before revealing to Whitney that he and prison guard Helen were in a relationship. They later became engaged.

Lily and Ryan last saw each other when she fell pregnant in 2023, and he invited her to stay with him and Helen in Wakefield.