What happened to Chrissie Watts in EastEnders? Tracy-Ann Oberman return explained

We don't yet know what surprises Chrissie has in store for Sharon, but it's been a while since we've seen her - 19 years in fact.

Speaking about her return, Oberman said: "Chrissie Watts was such a great character to play – a victim or a villain.

"She is a real fan favourite, so when Chris Clenshaw asked me to come back and re-visit her and see what has happened in the last 19 years, I jumped at the chance. The scripts are fantastic and I hope the viewers enjoy her as much as I am enjoying playing her again."

So, just who is Chrissie Watts and what happened to her in EastEnders?

Who is Chrissie Watts in EastEnders?

Chrissie Watts is the second wife, widow, and murderer of Den Watts in EastEnders.

Serving as the landlady of the Queen Vic, Chrissie was at the forefront of the soap during her tenure.

The character was introduced in April 2004 and departed the soap in December 2005.

What happened to Chrissie Watts in EastEnders?

Before her shock return on Thursday 5th September 2024, last saw Chrissie Watts in prison in December 2005.

Chrissie Watts arrived in Walford as the secret second wife of Den Watts who he had been living with in Spain. Chrissie had no idea about Den's former life, including his beloved adopted daughter Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) and two biological children Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman) and Vicki Fowler (Scarlett Alice Johnson).

Den managed to persuade Chrissie to settle in Walford and she soon became friends with former policewoman Kate Morton (Jill Halfpenny) and went into business running a salon together. However, this friendship and her marriage fell apart when Chrissie discovered Den had been sleeping with Kate, resulting in Chrissie smashing up the salon, butchering Kate's hair during a haircut and fleeing Walford.

Yet, Chrissie eventually returned due to her business interests in the salon. Den also committed not to betray her again and brought her into the fold to defraud Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf) and reclaim the Queen Vic pub for his family. Chrissie warned Den that she would kill him if he cheated on her again and the pair reconciled, going on to succeed in their plot and becoming landlord and landlady of the Queen Vic pub in time for Christmas 2004.

Of course, 'Dirty' Den Watts did not stay faithful to Chrissie and amidst his hatred for the love between Sharon and Dennis, he began sleeping with Dennis's girlfriend Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) in a bid for her to get pregnant for real after manipulating her into lying she was pregnant with Dennis's baby to keep Sharon and Dennis apart. The pregnancy lie had led to the departure of Sharon and Vicki from Walford.

When the truth came out about Den and Zoe's affair and that Zoe was pregnant with Den's baby, Dennis left Walford and he told Chrissie the truth about her husband. Afterwards, Chrissie persuaded Zoe to have an abortion and appeared to forgive her for her actions, blaming Den for everything.

Chrissie then united with Zoe and Sam to get revenge on Den – though it remained unclear who would eventually end up in possession of the Queen Vic.

On the soap's 20th anniversary and the 37th wedding anniversary of Den to his late first wife Angie Watts (Anita Dobson), the three confronted Den in the pub after hours, with Chrissie revealing that she persuaded Zoe to abort his child and that she wants power of attorney over the Queen Vic pub. Den admitted all of his wrongdoing and caused a rift between Chrissie and Sam when he revealed the former's involvement in defrauding Sam.

Despite this, Chrissie then revealed her trump card when Sharon emerged from the shadows, having been secretly invited to return, and having heard all of her father's evil actions, Sharon rejected him and left Walford again. As Chrissie taunted Den with her revenge, he grew violent with her and grabbed her by the hair, smashing her head into the fruit machine, prompting Zoe to strike him on the back of the head with a dog-shaped doorstop belonging to his old enemy Pauline Fowler (Wendy Richard).

Den appeared to be dead and as Zoe and Sam left the room, a happy Chrissie gloated over her revenge on Den until he awakened, grabbed her leg, and warned that she would not get him out of the Queen Vic, prompting Chrissie to strike him violently with the doorstep on the front of his head. The murder was secretly witnessed by Sam who kept her knowledge of the crime secret.

Following this, Chrissie lets Zoe believe that she killed Den before the pair dumped the body in the Queen Vic cellar and filled it in with fresh cement. Sam confronted Chrissie to blackmail her into returning the pub to her, but when she didn't get what she wanted, she told Zoe the truth, prompting the latter to depart from Walford to Ibiza - but not until after Zoe told her mother Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) the truth. Kat warned Chrissie that she would destroy her if the murder was ever discovered.

In the meantime, Chrissie began a fresh romance with Jake Moon (Joel Beckett) and lied that Den had left her for another woman, repeating this story when Sharon and Dennis returned to Walford as a couple and got engaged to marry.

On Sharon and Dennis's wedding day, a struggling drunk Sam broke into the back of the Queen Vic after knocking barmaid Tracey (Jane Slaughter) unconscious and digging the body up. As Den was declared dead, Chrissie pretended to grieve for her husband and supported Sharon in her grief. Sam was arrested and revealed the truth of what happened, but her previous possession of the murder weapon in her flat tied her to the scene of the crime through blood spatters, prompting her to be charged with Den's murder and Chrissie framed her successfully, persuading a teenage Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) to give a false alibi in a bid to protect Chrissie and Zoe.

Following this, Sam's mother Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor) returned to Walford and campaigned against Chrissie – even at Den's funeral, slapping her into his open grave.

Chrissie confessed her crime to Jake and he in turn confessed he witnessed local gangster Johnny Allen (Billy Murray) murder his associate Andy Hunter (Michael Higgs). After this, Chrissie pushed for Johnny to buy the pub from her but Peggy discouraged him from this – until Chrissie blackmailed him about Andy's death, but he threatened her with knowledge of Den's death and warned her to not threaten him again.

The situation reached its climax as Sam's brothers Phil (Steve McFadden) and Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) returned to Walford to help free Sam and campaign against Chrissie. Eventually, Johnny caught Chrissie discussing the murder with Jake on CCTV and blackmailed her into sex with him, but she did not comply. As Stacey abandoned her alibi for Chrissie, she was questioned by police but was free to go and plotted her exit. The Mitchell brothers ended up in possession of the confessional and shared this with a suspicious Sharon and Dennis as they tried to stop her from fleeing the country with Jake.

As Chrissie waited at the airport for Jake to join her, she was instead confronted by Sharon who proceeded to punch her as the police arrested Chrissie for the murder of Den Watts. Afterwards, Chrissie agreed to come clean to the police if she could have a meeting with Sharon to justify her actions. The meeting occurred but Chrissie failed to get any understanding from Sharon.

As the weeks passed, Sam was freed but faced charges of perverting the course of justice and fled to Brazil while on bail.

Jake visited Chrissie in prison and proposed to her but she was furious he had lost her bail money and she planned to humiliate Sharon by testifying to Den's character in court. However, Chrissie eventually decided against this plan and pleaded guilty to the murder, exonerating Sam and Zoe from killing Den, and being sentenced to life imprisonment - meaning a minimum of 15 years in prison.

In her final appearance in December 2005, Jake visited Chrissie and she asked him to stop visiting her and to live his life now she is in prison for life. Jake professed his love for Chrissie before departing, with Chrissie last seen returning to her cell, seemingly at peace with her fate.

What will happen when Chrissie Watts returns to EastEnders?

We now know Chrissie is still serving time in prison, and we can take an educated guess that her main scenes will be alongside Sharon Watts who is also now in prison (next door, in fact).

Oberman has described her storyline as "Orange is the New Black", adding: "When I read the script, I just kept thinking this is like Orange is the New Black meets Prisoner Cell Block H, meets Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. It was just great. I’ve had so many years of people asking me what happened in Chrissie’s court case, and if she would ever come back because people loved that character. I sometimes would wonder what Chrissie was up to so it’s really lovely to be able to come back and revisit that woman. I have to thank Tony Jordan and Sarah Phelps for creating that character and writing for her so well."

If viewers thought they might've seen a reformed Chrissie - think again. She's had a lot of years to toughen up, and Oberman even hinted that the Mitchells may have got to her in prison after she tried to set up Sam for the murder.

As for her storyline, Oberman teased: “It’s a real rollercoaster of a ride as Sharon and Chrissie come face to face again. They were once extremely close but Chrissie murdered her father and lied to her about it, but equally they did trust each other, and they both understood each other very well. I think all the emotions will be present – love, jealousy, hatred, passion, joy and revenge. Will there be a resolution? That is the big question over the week and will they both come out of it alive and will they both come out of it with some closure? Who knows…”

Read more:

• EastEnders' Tracy-Ann Oberman teases possible death twist for Sharon and Chrissie
• EastEnders confirms final scenes for Dean Wicks as Matt Di Angelo exits
• Is Linda Carter leaving EastEnders after shock bombshell?

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.

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