EASTENDERS fans are speculating about the unexpected return of Nigel Bates, believing there may be a deeper reason tied to upcoming storylines.
The classic character – who is played by actor Paul Bradley in the BBC soap – reunited with friend Phil tonight as he found him in the Square on Christmas Day.
Phil invited him back to his where they caught up.
Nigel told him: “Me and Julie split up a while back. Tried to sell the house but couldn’t. She found someone else and wanted me out.”
“Couldn’t Clare take you in?” asked Phil.
But Nigel told him: “Nah. We lost contact ages ago.
“I’ve got to admit, I never thought I’d end up on my own, 66, and not a penny in the world.”
Phil asked him where he was living and Nigel claimed he was homeless and living in hostels when there was space.
So Phil told him he could stay with him, insisting: “I ain’t got no family. I’m on my own and that’s how I like it – no ties, no restrictions. I’m happy on my tod.
“Right you sit here and I’ll stick a pizza in the oven.”
But as Phil disappeared into the kitchen, it became clear that Nigel had been lying to him.
He received a text from wife Julie – and it was obvious they hadn’t split up.
The text Nigel read in secret said: “Please. Come home. I miss you. Love Julie x”
EastEnders boss Chris Clenshaw has teased Nigel is hiding some big secrets.
He said: “It’s fantastic to welcome Paul Bradley back as Nigel Bates, a character much-loved by long-time EastEnders viewers.
“There’s a lot of mystery about Nigel’s situation and why he’s here alone, which will be revealed in the coming weeks.
The Sun’s Soaps Editor Carl Greenwood runs down the suspects in the big EastEnders whodunnit
Anna Knight
Shall we just rule Anna out straight away?
The woman’s barely got enough about her to kill a fly, so the chances of her finally becoming worthy of being Cindy Beale’s daughter and bashing her over the head with a shovel are slim to none.
But she was watching out of the Queen Vic window so she may well know who did attack her mother.
Gina Knight
Fiery, recovering drug addict Gina is a good shout for shovel-ing her mother this Christmas.
She’s got the boxing skills of George and the temper of Cindy – so she definitely has the ability and will to take her mother down.
And she was seen sneaking out of the Vic just before Cindy was attacked.
Peter Beale
This Peter is a bit of a drip – he’s more Anna, than Gina, shall we say.
It’s hard to imagine him being able to pick up a shovel without mummy’s approval.
But having said that he was seen drowning his sorrows in tears shortly before the attack, so maybe he finally embraced his mum’s side?
Lauren Branning
Never before has a character failed to learn from her past mistakes more than Lauren.
Except Cindy obviously who appears doomed to repeat the affair cycle until the day she dies.
But Lauren’s ability to ruin Christmas is unrivalled – and it provoked explosive drama.
And it left her with a bag of pills in the car lot having lost her relationship, her family and her son – and it’s all Cindy’s fault.
So could Lauren be the one responsible?
Ian Beale
For a man whose Christmases have included the time he was nearly murdered by his wife with a killer carbonara, you’d think he’d have quite low threshold for bad days but this was something else.
Humiliated in public by a recording of Cindy saying he couldn’t satisfy her so much so she was sleeping with her former stepson, Ian didn’t have a happy Christmas.
He threw a drink over and then punched Junior, before rejecting Cindy and throwing her out onto the streets.
Last seen smashing up his own living room and storming out into the Square, he was certainly in the mood for killing Cindy.
But could he? Really?
Kathy Beale
There’s been no love lost between Kathy and Cindy since they both returned from the dead and a full-on brawl is well overdue.
But after everything that happened last Christmas, would Kathy really want to go through that again?
It’s a miracle she managed to get back into the Vic.
Elaine Peacock
The Queen Vic landlady’s scheme to get rid of Cindy once and for all backfired quite spectacularly.
She began Christmas Day convinced she was about to be rid of Cindy forever – but ended it single and alone.
Hearing George rage about Junior taking what was his pushed her over the edge and she kicked George out.
But did it push her enough to grab a shovel and try to kill Cindy?
George Knight
Cindy cost him everything.
He’s now homeless, job-less and son-less after Cindy’s affair was exposed and as a former professional boxer he’s capable of explosive rage.
He was seen working out his emotions on a punching bag, but maybe it didn’t work and maybe he needed Cindy to pay for what she’d done?
Junior Knight
The spurned lover, unwanted son, humiliated man… things aren’t looking good for Junior.
He fell for Cindy, hook, line and sinker, and worse, he fell for her lies.
Last seen trying to call Cindy after everything went down – did he want to find her to kill her or to seduce her again?
“Phil has never needed support more than he does this Christmas, so we’re excited to reunite these two old friends.”
But what is he hiding?
Fans are speculating Nigel might behind Cindy Beale’s attack when she was left for dead after someone hit her on the head with a shovel.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, one viewer said: “If they don’t make it Nigel who bashed Cindy over the head with a shovel, they betray us.”
Another asked: “Does nigel have anything to do with cindy?”
A third wrote: “Nigel Bates killed Cindy”.
A fourth added: “Look, we all know it was Kojo who attacked Cindy – but imagine if it was Nigel! That’d be interesting. It won’t be, he has no motive and it’d be bad – but it’d be interesting.”
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and is available to stream from 6am on BBC iPlayer.
