EastEnders has delighted fans with an unexpected mention of Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) pretty much confirming that she will be back.
The queen of Walford hasn’t been since October, just weeks after she staged an almighty return to the BBC One soap, which brought her face-to-face with Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan).
It was a showdown two decades in the making, with Sharon still struggling with dad Den’s (Leslie Grantham) demise, which she held Zoe partly responsible for.
In a desperate bid to find her son, Zoe resorted to lies about Sharon’s one true love Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman), claiming that the former show icon – who died in 2005 – was her boy’s father, hoping Sharon would fork out the money for a private investigator.
After the initial shock of such claims set in, Sharon put her grudge with Zoe aside and decided to help, determined to track down Dennis’ son – who would’ve also been her beloved Denny’s (Bleud Landau) brother.
Amid all the chaos of Zoe’s comeback, the former Queen Vic landlady was also left reeling when sister Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig) was attacked by stepson Joel Marshall (Max Murray) and thus resolved to get her out of Walford.
Vicki subsequently returned without Sharon and she discovered that Zoe had fabricated the entire story about Dennis being her missing son’s dad.
Without wasting a second, she notified Sharon, who was so heartbroken by the development she resolved to stay away, stating that the news was like Denny had ‘died all over again’.
Sharon headed to America to stay with Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully) and has not yet returned to screens. The character remains a hugely popular one with audiences of the show, who often voice their desire to see her back on the Square some day.
And good news came earlier this week when Phil Mitchell put Mark Fowler Jr (Stephen Aaron-Sipple) in charge at the Boxing Den, telling him to take the reins ‘until [Sharon’s] back’.
While there’s nothing currently known about when she will be back, such dialogue appears to confirm the fact that she will be back one day – and that is music to our ears, as we imagine it is to all the fans that’s missing her.
