EastEnders star Shane Richie has spoken about the future that awaits Alfie Moon following his health battle.

The character was diagnosed with prostate cancer in August 2023, with subsequent developments focusing on his recovery and how he

informs his closest friends and family.

The story is set to intensify in the coming weeks, with Richie – who first played Alfie in 2002 – telling The Sun at the National Television Awards that there will be some emotional scenes for his character.

“Alfie playing the prostate cancer. Exciting is the wrong word, but just bringing that to the forefront of, you know, doing on the British soap is really important to the producers and to me,” he said.

“We’re about to cover the erectile dysfunction story, which I didn’t think we would do, but that ties in with prostate cancer. I mean, you know, you do your homework, and the Beeb [BBC] and certainly the producers are very good at doing their research.”

The star, who most recently returned to the BBC soap in 2022, also spoke about his scenes with Jessie Wallace’s Kat Mitchell, with an upcoming storyline seeing their son Tommy (Sonny Kendall) showing signs of anger.

“The story that myself [and Jessie], that Kat and Alfie are playing at the moment is with our son Tommy,” he explained. “And [it’s] about teenage angst and violence in the family. So that’s what’s about to hit the screen pretty soon.”\

Whilst there will be plenty of drama involving Alfie and co, the soap is gearing up for a special live episode as it celebrates its 40th anniversary, though Richie shared that he doesn’t know all the details of the celebration.

“We’re [the cast] pretty much in the dark about it,” he said. “We found out, I think, 48 hours before the general public found out. So it’s all pretty hush-hush about what’s going to happen. We’re not privy to information just yet, but I think in the next couple of weeks, we’ll know