EASTENDERS fans have defended a ‘baddie’ character following their return to Walford.
Viewers of the BBC One soap watched this week as Ruby Allen made a dramatic comeback.
The character, who is played by Louisa Lytton, last appeared in Albert Square in 2021 when she divorced Martin Fowler and left him and his children homeless.
She was jailed for wrongly accusing the Slater family of operating a cannabis farm.
But as Ruby returned, Martin was shocked to discover he had a son called Roman that he never knew existed.
However, he was left further devastated when he followed Ruby to the hospital and learned Roman is seriously sick after his liver failed.
Taking to a web forum, EastEnders fans have defended Ruby – insisting “lifelong trauma and neglect” is to blame for her behaviour.
One wrote: “I don’t think Ruby is a ‘baddie’ character. I understand her behaviour, even the lies she told, the games she played… That’s what lifelong trauma & neglect do to a person.
“Like she says, she doesn’t know what family is, not really, I can relate to that and right now, with her son in hospital like that and the whole Fowler-Slater clan descending upon her in that moment, The Only Thing Ruby will be feeling is fear in the form of a major, complex PTSD response.”
A second replied: “Fair play to Ruby, yes she’s done some bad things in her time, but she’s served her time and should be allowed the chance to rebuild her life.
“The fact she’s had to rebuild it without any family or the cushion of her Dad’s money (which she mentioned she’d lost), is a show of how strong she can be.”
A third fan added: “She definitely has potential to be a rounded “villain” character, she’s replicated her dad’s tactics of calling people to “sort out” her adversaries, but she does have a heart and motherhood seems like it could be the making of her.
“I hope she can become a “Janine” a female villain who schemes and lies, but for whom the viewer has pathos by seeing their vulnerable and caring side.”
MICHELLE Collins has seen her second EastEnders stint boost her bank balance. Yet what stars have quit this year?
The Sun exclusively reported how Michelle, 62, was down to £20,000 in her company accounts when she agreed to a shock back-from-the-dead return to Albert Square last year.
Her character, Cindy Beale, was presumed dead off-camera in 1998.
Yet what about the 2024 exits?
Earlier this summer, loyal soap fans appeared to note how Stevie Mitchell had “quit” the long-running series.
It came after Alan Ford enjoyed just six-months on-screen.
Bobby Beale actor Clay Milner Russell also left this year after five years in Walford.
Fans also feared Martin Fowler actor James Bye would “quit out of boredom” over recent storylines.
Additionally, a host of stars have quit the BBC soap for Hollywood fame.
One of the most successful stars to come from the BBC One soap is Rob Kazinsky.
He played Stacey Slater’s brother Sean Slater from 2006 to 2009, he has starred in Hollywood blockbusters Pacific Rim and Captain Marvel.
Ben Hardy, who quit EastEnders as Bobby Beale almost a decade ago, went on to break Hollywood the following year, when he starred as Archangel in X-Men: Apocalypse.
Since then, he has played Roger Taylor in Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, and he starred in Michael Bay’s Netflix movie 6 Underground.
Michelle Ryan played Zoe Slater until 2005.
She starred as the lead in short-lived American series Bionic Woman from 2007 to 2008.
