Peter Beale and Lauren Branning return to EastEnders as Cindy truth finally comes out

The truth about Rose Knight, or Cindy Beale, was revealed in tonight’s episode of EastEnders and it didn’t disappoint. While we all believed Cindy died in childbirth in 1998, it turns out she’s been in witness protection the whole time hiding from an old cellmate and her cronies.

For 15 years, Cindy had been in witness protection living under the identity of ‘Rose Knight’ where she married George and had their daughters, Gina and Anna. But nine years ago, Cindy had to leave Rose behind – a reason we’re still not clear on.

What we do know is that somehow Ian and Cindy reunited about a year ago and have been living in France together along with Ian’s son Peter Beale and his son, Louie Beale, who he shares with Lauren Branning.

In the episode, Cindy’s handler, Mary came with the news that her old cellmate had died, so Cindy is now free to do what she wants. Ian suggested moving back to Albert Square, but Cindy wasn’t too sure.

Another surprise was the appearance of Peter played by Thomas Law, the fifth actor to play him from 2006-2010. And it’s been revealed he’ll be returning to Walford later this year along with Michelle Collins (Cindy Beale) and Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale).

On reprising his role, Thomas says, “Over the years, I had hoped for a return to the Square although I never thought it would happen so it’s an absolute delight to be back in Walford as Peter Beale.

“It’s been great to see familiar and new faces, and I can’t wait to explore the character again in the wake of Cindy’s return – it’s an exciting time to return!”

Jacqueline Jossa, who plays Lauren Branning, made a surprising one-off appearance in the episode. They teased a potential reunion between her and Peter, but when she discovered he’d been hiding the secret about his mum, she left France and took Louie with her.

On the witness protection storyline, Michelle says that’s the only way her character, Cindy Beale could come back.

“I always remember thinking to myself ‘the only way they could do it would be witness protection’,” laughs Michelle. “She's been living this double life.

“I love podcasts,” she adds. “I listen to a lot about witness protection, and actually, there are stories where people do things like this. They completely go away and have these different identities. So it's kind of feasible.”

Producer of EastEnders, Chris Clenshaw explains that Cindy’s death was the biggest hurdle to overcome in bringing her back.

“We started talking about it well over a year ago,” he says. “And then the first thing was once we started to look at the story and make sure it was credible in terms of, she’s dead, how could that have worked? But it is soap and we didn't see a body.

“We had then the witness protection story, and made sure it worked with our research and advisors, they came back and said ‘yes, this is what could have happened’. And that’s when I was like ‘OK, I think we’ve got a shot to do this’.”

In the episode, Ian tried to convince Cindy to move back to Walford before having a heart attack. But in hospital, Ian discovered George, Anna and Gina have moved to Walford and attempted to put Cindy off the idea of going back. But as the actors have returning to filming, it’s only a matter of time before they all meet.

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