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Cindy Beale\u00a0(Michelle Collins)\u2019 return to EastEnders earlier this year shocked and delighted fans of the soap as the character \u2013 long thought to be dead \u2013 was revealed to be living in France with Ian (Adam Woodyatt) and son Peter (Thomas Law).<\/p>\n
And that storyline\u2019s set to go into overdrive in upcoming episodes as Cindy returns to Walford \u2013 paving the way for some explosive drama with Kathy (Gillian Taylforth), as well as some old faces and the family she built during her time away.<\/p>\n
While everybody believed Cindy to have died in childbirth, she has in fact spent the past quarter century living under witness protection, having made a life for herself with the new identity Rose Knight.<\/p>\n
With daughters Anna and (Molly Rainford) and Gina (Francesca Henry), trying to track their mum down in recent months, they\u2019re also in for a major shock when she appears in the Square.<\/p>\n
But just why has the character spent the past 25 years in witness protection?<\/p>\n
Cindy went into witness protection in 1998 after turning informant on her cellmate, gangster Jackie Ford \u2013 leading to the story that she had died giving birth to her daughter Cindy Jr in prison.<\/p>\n
Her comeback episode saw her receive a visit from a police handler named Mary, telling her that Jackie Ford had died, meaning Cindy\u2019s witness protection programme was finally over.<\/p>\n
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Her shock return to the show came in June as she was revealed to be Rose Knight, the \u2018missing\u2019 wife of Walford newcomer George Knight (Colin Salmon).<\/p>\n
The following episode also saw Ian return, only for the character to collapse with a heart attack shortly after learning that Cindy\u2019s time in the witness protection programme was over.<\/p>\n
Several months later, Cindy is finally set to take the plunge and head back to Albert Square in search of Peter after he goes over to help half-brother Bobby (Clay Milner Russell).<\/p>\n
Ian isn\u2019t keen on the idea, and quickly jumps on a plane after her, in order to get her back to France before anyone sees her.<\/p>\n
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\u2018When we decided to bring Cindy back it was imperative that we stuck to the facts that had played out on screen beforehand to ensure that the storyline was credible,\u2019 said the show\u2019s executive producer Chris Clenshaw.<\/p>\n
\u2018It was always going around in the back of my mind, it was always there,\u2019 he mused, addressing the idea of Cindy\u2019s comeback.<\/p>\n
\u2018It wasn\u2019t until one of our writers had pitched a different story, but it was the return of Cindy Beale, and everyone kind of gasped and everyone was behind that idea, which made me go \u2013 well maybe there is something in this.<\/p>\n
\u2018These things can take a while to get from idea to screen and it\u2019s a lot to align. I don\u2019t know if it was always part of my plan but it was definitely in the background somewhere.\u2019<\/p>\n
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Actress Michelle Collins has added that fans of the soap can definitely expect bits of the old Cindy to come back. <\/p>\n
\u2018I also think that people would be a little bit disappointed if they didn\u2019t have the old bits. She\u2019s the kind of person that\u2019s not going to sit at home and knit, I don\u2019t think.<\/p>\n
\u2018In a way, she was a character that women hated her but they kind of wanted to be her, because of the way she behaved.<\/p>\n
\u2018She was unapologetic, in a time when women on TV weren\u2019t really portrayed that way. So, I think that\u2019s why she literally got away with murder!<\/p>\n