Two main characters will make their shock return to EastEnders tonight (Thursday, March. 17) as Tiffany Butcher (Maisie Smith) and Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ) come back to the Square after an eventful week.
Last week saw serial killer Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith) face the ultimate showdown as his horrific crimes were finally exposed by the residents.
Recently, Keegan Butcher-Baker (Zack Morris), has been reeling from the trauma of finding out that his sister Chantelle (Jessica Plummer) was murdered by abusive husband Gray and his grief will see his former spouse Tiffany return to try and help him with his struggles.
Tiffany left Walford for good to start a new life with her brother, Liam in Germany, after he meddled with their relationship that they were desperately trying to fix. Will her visit also be a chance for them to rekindle their romance?
Meanwhile, Stuart also returns home after spending weeks away at a retreat, which he thought could cure his breast cancer naturally. However, his wife Rainie (Tanya Franks) isn’t impressed and still isn’t over the fact that he left.
Stuart reveals that the cancer has shrunk, but Rainie doesn’t believe him and seeks help from Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) who agrees that the pills Stuart is taking wouldn’t be helping him.
Although they can’t force him to have proper treatment, Rainie and his brother Callum (Tony Clay) both confront him.
Last year, Stuart received the devastating news that he had breast cancer. The shocking discovery saw Stuart struggle to accept the diagnosis and refuse to open up to Rainie.
After he finally told her, Rainie wanted him to receive proper medical treatment, but Stuart was terrified that his drug addiction would return while on the pain medication and refused to have the treatment.
Just as they were preparing him for the operation, Stuart fled the hospital and left to go to a retreat to help cure his cancer without the need for an operation. Will he discover if his cancer has actually shrunk?
Ricky Champ opened up about his character Stuart’s shocking cancer diagnosis, saying that he appreciated being given such a powerful storyline.
He said: “I feel honoured to be trusted with such an important storyline. I hope by shedding a light on male breast cancer, more men will be aware of it and seek out a doctor if they notice anything wrong.”
EastEnders continues tonight at 7:30pm on BBC One.
