EastEnders fans were over the moon to see Denise Fox's (Diane Parish) young son Raymond return to our screens in last night's episode (Monday, April 17).
Six year old Raymond, who is the son of Denise and Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), was seen celebrating his step brother Ricky Jr.'s (Frankie Day) hockey match win during a family dinner where he and his stepdad Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) did a toast for Ricky.
EastEnders youngster Raymond had been sorely missed by fans, with some even questioning where he had gone to because of his rare appearances on the soap.
Prior to his short scene last night, Raymond was last seen on Christmas Day when the Fox-Brannings went to Phil's for Christmas lunch.
Raymond was adopted off-screen after his birth, but returned to the soap in 2020 after his adoptive parents died in a car crash. He is now being brought up by his biological mother Denise and her husband Jack, while Phil also takes care of Raymond.
Fans were thrilled to see much-loved Raymond make a brief return last night and voiced their excitement on Twitter...
Yay!!! It’s Raymond on the screen again. #EastEndersApril 17, 2023
Wow #eastenders finally remembered Raymond existsApril 17, 2023
Raymond is cuteness overload #EastEndersApril 17, 2023
Raymond's out of the cupboard! #EastEndersApril 17, 2023
But despite the happy occasion, there was hostility between Amy Mitchell (Ellie Dadd) and her step-mum Denise at the dinner table after the teen made a shocking revelation.
Recently, Amy was left devastated after her boyfriend Denzel Danes (Jaden Ladega) dropped the bombshell that Denise had an affair with Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara).
A distraught Amy has since been struggling to cope with the heavy secret and started drinking to help deal with the trauma.
Amy had been increasingly aggressive towards Denise after the discovery and when Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams) noticed that her stepsister had been drinking in last night's episode, Denise decided to search in Amy's room and found empty alcohol cans hidden under her bed.
Denise confronted Amy about the drinking and the schoolgirl furiously confessed that she knew all about her secret.
As the pair had a heart-to-heart about the situation, Amy reassured Denise that she wouldn't tell her dad as she didn't want to ruin his happiness. But when Denise found an empty wine bottle in Amy's bed, she decided to tell Jack everything to prioritise Amy's mental health.
EastEnders continues tonight at 7:30pm on BBC One.
