EastEnders recap before Christmas Day 2024: What has Cindy Beale done this time?

Meanwhile, Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) is not in a good place, Denise Fox (Diane Parish) finds herself in a love dilemma, and murderous Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) remains on the run.

So, what do you need to know to enjoy the Christmas Day episodes? Here is everything you need to know.

EastEnders recap before Christmas Day 2024: What has Cindy Beale done this time?

So, you are probably aware that classic villainess Cindy Beale rose from the dead last year in EastEnders as she was revealed to have faked her own death as part of a witness protection scheme in 1998.

During her time away Cindy lived a life as Rose Knight with her husband George (Colin Salmon) and they had two daughters Gina (Francesca Henry) and Anna (Molly Rainford). However, upon learning of the murder of her daughter Lucy Beale in the UK, Cindy had a breakdown and fled their home in Marbella.

Eventually, Cindy found and reunited with her former husband Ian Beale and they reconciled as a couple.

Now, since she’s been back, Cindy has reunited with George and her daughters who now reside at the Queen Victoria pub, with George engaged and now married to landlady Elaine Knight (Harriet Thorpe), Linda Carter’s mother.

Cindy remains in love with George still but he has chosen to be with Elaine despite Cindy’s efforts.

Remaining unsatisfied with Ian and heartbroken over George, Cindy has pursued an affair with George’s son from his first marriage, love rat Junior Knight (Micah Balfour) for months.

In recent weeks, Cindy and Junior were discovered by George’s recently arrived biological brother Kojo Asare (Dayo Koleosho) but an encounter with Cindy saw him fall from a fire escape and hospitalised. However, Cindy threatened Kojo to stay quiet, while Junior was honest to Kojo about how he has fallen in love with Cindy.

Kojo’s fall was happened upon by Cindy’s likely future daughter-in-law Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa), who is pregnant once again with Cindy’s grandchild by Peter Beale (Thomas Law), but is suffering from chronic pain after being injured in a club crush earlier this year.

These injuries were contributed to by Cindy and Junior as an exit through the club office at Peggy’s was locked so the pair could have an illicit encounter. Peter was furious when he heard Junior was in the office but had no idea his mum was in there.

To keep Lauren quiet about Kojo’s accident, Cindy agreed to keep a secret that Lauren was addicted to pain medication and had even stolen some to keep using. Additionally, Cindy illegally obtained further painkillers herself to keep Lauren quiet but was angry to learn she was pregnant.

As Lauren feared withdrawal after seeking medical advice, Cindy continued to give them to her until a fire almost saw Lauren and her and Peter’s son Louie (Jake McNally) killed in a house fire until Cindy saved them.

In the aftermath, Lauren revealed everything she knew but Cindy called her a liar, so Lauren visited the Knights at the Vic to get the truth from Kojo, but he remained quiet on Cindy’s behaviour.

Little does Junior know, but Cindy remains in love with George and a conversation reveals this. Her affair with Junior between Cindy and her former flame – and Ian’s half-brother – David Wicks (Michael French) was accidentally recorded by Freddie Slater (Bobby Brazier) in the Pie and Mash shop Beale’s Eeels while Freddie has been recording birdsong.

Last week, Elaine came across the recording playing from a laptop and is now aware of the whole truth. On Monday, Elaine confronted Cindy and eventually delivered an ultimatum: face the music or leave Walford altogether.

Cindy chose to avoid the consequences and made plans to leave Walford for a new life in France with Ian, while also stringing along Junior still. However, a mysterious individual has gotten their hands on the USB recording of Cindy's accidental confession and dropped a parcel in the Secret Santa box – but who?

In case that wasn’t bad enough, Ian has been suffering from further stress and health issues as he had an angina attack a few weeks before Christmas. Only his long-suffering mother Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth) is aware and she blames the stresses caused by Cindy for his condition.

The stage is set for a dramatic Christmas Day...

Phil Mitchell’s loneliness

2024 has been a harsh year for Phil Mitchell as his marriage to Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) fell apart following his cheating with Lola’s mum Emma Harding (Patsy Kensit) and his son Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) was sent to prison in the US for credit card fraud.

Since then, lonely patriarch Phil has felt increasingly sidelined in the Mitchell family following arguments with Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) and the arrival of Teddy Mitchell (Roland Manookian) and his clan.

On top of this, Phil’s long-term love Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) is pursuing a romance with Teddy despite the old spark between her and Phil, while Phil is barred from seeing his son Raymond Fox (Michael Jose Pomares Calixte) by his mother Denise Fox (Diane Parish) for his selfish behaviour.

In early December, Teddy’s scheming ex-wife Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington) discovered Phil’s neglect of himself and his home and tried to manipulate problems for Teddy’s budding romance with Sharon and even tried to tempt Phil into a relapse into alcoholism, but he remained resolute and avoided this.

Yet, despite overtures of help and care from Sharon, Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) and even Teddy, Phil remains isolated and unhappy.

Denise Fox’s romantic dilemmas

Speaking of difficult years and being visited by ghosts from the past, Denise Fox (Diane Parish) was one of The Six from Christmas 2023 to suffer the most as she was haunted by the secrets of covering up Keanu Taylor’s (Danny Walters) murder and also her attacking Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) with a champagne bottle.

After a devastating battle with a psychotic break, Denise returned to the Square and had to face up to the breakdown of her marriage to Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) which had been caused by infidelity and lies on both sides – with Denise cheating with villainous Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) and Jack with Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner).

Yet, in the aftermath, the possibility of a reunion with Jack has remained open as a deep love remains and they know each other inside out.

However, a bigger complication has arisen as the spark between Denise and Ravi has resurfaced which would also be an issue as he was once in a relationship with Denise’s daughter Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams) when the truth came out about his connection with Denise.

Denise has also confessed to Ravi that she was the one who hit Nish to save the life of Suki.

So as Denise faces multiple romantic options, who will she choose: Jack or Ravi?

Who will Martin Fowler choose: Stacey Slater or Ruby Allen?

Another festive love triangle has also emerged for Martin Fowler (James Bye) following the return of ex-wife Ruby Allen (Louisa Lytton) and the revelation they have a son named Roman.

Following a recent illness and Martin subsequently donating his some of his liver to Roman, father and son are at home and Ruby is living with them.

Due to their renewed connection thanks to Roman, Martin seems to be contemplating a romantic reunion with Ruby, at the encouragement of best pal Zack Hudson (James Farrar) – why, Zack, why?!

Of course, most fans are hoping for a reunion with former married couple Martin and Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) and an awkward surprise kiss and Stacey’s slow time taking to reveal her feelings could prove the downfall of this…

Yolande Trueman's faith restored

After a challenging year following a traumatic sexual assault by Pastor Gideon Clayton, Yolande Trueman (Angela Wynter) was left questioning her faith.

After Pastor Clayton ended his own life before justice could be served against him for numerous sexual assaults throughout his career, Yolande felt like any meaning from her standing up to him had been taken.

Yet, when she joined a survivors' group for a meeting in a church and Yolande heard their stories and the impact of her stand, followed by a performance from the choir there, Yolande felt her faith restored.

Returning to the Walford Community Centre soup kitchen, Yolande returned to work.

Nigel Bates returns

A further surprise occurred on Christmas Eve as Yolande was seen serving a dishevelled Nigel Bates in the community centre

When Yolande enquired why the stranger had returned to Walford, Nigel replied "Memories".

So, what brings the classic character back to Walford?

Nish Panesar on the run

After learning that ex-wife Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) plans to wed soulmate Eve Unwin (Heather Peace) at New Year after he took the fall for Keanu’s murder in a twisted way to both protect her and own her, evil and ailing Nish Panesar escaped prison and is now hiding out in Walford.

Of course, Davinder “Nugget” Gulati (Judaism Rasul Choudhry) is aware of this and is helping provide supplies but no one else in the family is any the wiser…

Bianca Jackson remains held captive by killer Reiss Colwell

Have you seen this woman?!

So, we all know the iconic Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer) but the fiery redhead is currently held prisoner in a storage containment facility by deluded killer Reiss Colwell (Jonny Freeman).

Having murdered his comatose wife Debbie for life insurance money for his life with fiancee Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) and their upcoming baby, Reiss later lets Sonia be wrongly accused and imprisoned for Debbie’s murder.

Convinced he was a liar, Bianca was on a quest for the truth and found it – only to be kept prisoner by Reiss.

We haven’t seen Bianca in nearly two months, but could she make a surprise appearance this festive season?

Linda Carter is in rehab

And Linda Carter – WHO DID NOT DIE – is now staying at a rehabilitation centre to help get clean and come off of alcohol following a near-deadly relapse this winter.

Having been consumed by guilt for killing Keanu Taylor and being tormented by his sister Bernie (Clair Norris), the various tragedies of recent years overwhelmed Linda and she reached an all-new rock bottom.

Yet, with the support of mum Elaine, Linda finally decided to get better after a moving vision of a future where she died and left her family broken with grief and discord.

Here's hoping for a much happier new year for Linda!

Read more:

• EastEnders confirms schedule change as the BBC makes way for Sports Personality of the Year
• EastEnders airs format-changing Linda Carter episode with tragic surprises in early BBC iPlayer release
• EastEnders Christmas and New Year spoilers: Your day-by-day guide as Cindy Beale's secrets explode
• EastEnders' Joe Swash reveals which soap legends he felt so lucky to work alongside
• EastEnders' Heather Peace promises New Year chaos at Suki and Eve's wedding

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

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