Michelle Ryan has made her highly anticipated return to Eastenders as Zoe Slater after 20 years away from Albert Square.

At end of Monday’s (16 April) episode, Zoe was revealed to have been staying in a flat with Stacey but had gone AWOL after stealing her cousin’s credit card.

Stacey had called Alfie, who arrived at the flat just before Zoe came home, marking the character’s first on-screen appearance since 2005.

Zoe will be on-screen for the rest of this week’s episodes before the character returns to the soap properly later this summer.

On Instagram, Tuesday (17 April), Ryan celebrated her huge return by teasing fans with what’s to come, describing it as ‘high stakes’.

Sharing a photo of some scripts, Ryan wrote: “Ahh coffee, much needed after the night shoot last night.

“So excited for this new block of episodes, I can’t reveal anything but wow. High stakes. I’m carrying around the scripts to prep, new lilac pages. Well done to the writers, who have knocked it out of the park!”

Zoe’s return episode was the first for new executive producer Ben Wadey, who has taken over from Chris Clenshaw.

Speaking about Ryan’s return to the soap, Wadey said: “I was absolutely delighted when Michelle agreed to return, and I’m thrilled to welcome her back to Walford.

“Whilst I can’t say too much at this stage, Zoe’s return is just one of the many exciting storylines we have planned.”

Zoe is perhaps best remembered for her iconic, “you ain’t my mother!..Yes I am,” exchange with Kat Slater.

Kat and Zoe have been estranged for years now and, as Tuesday’s episode demonstrated, Zoe isn’t in any rush to get back in touch with her mum.

However the episode ended on a cliffhanger with Kat knocking on the door of Stacey’s flat, unaware her estranged daughter was just meters away.