EastEnders airs character update in Cindy story in early iPlayer release

Cindy Jr was last seen in 2015, having spent two years living with Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) and her half-siblings in Walford. Cindy Jr moved to Germany with boyfriend Liam Butcher (played by James Forde, later by Alfie Deegan).

But, according to her half-brother Peter Beale (Thomas Law), Cindy Jr's life has just undergone a massive change.

"What about my other little girl?" cried the newly returned Cindy Sr, moments after she spoke about the rejection from youngest daughters Gina (Francesca Henry) and Anna Knight (Molly Rainford).

"I just didn't want her to have to deal with this," continued Cindy. "And she's living this life in Germany with Liam Butcher, and I'm just gonna ruin it all! It's not fair on her, she doesn't even know who I am!"

"She's just broken up with Liam, she won't hear anything from him," assured Peter. "She's gone away travelling. I was worried too, I checked. Apparently it was a messy break-up, she's cut all ties. Mum, she's gone away to find herself."

As Ian added that this gave Cindy time to work out what to do about Cindy Jr, Cindy insisted that she needed to put down roots in Walford to make it clear to her children that she was back for good.

Promising to get a new business up and running for Cindy, Ian was also urged by Peter to heal the rift between him and mum Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth).

In the café, Ian told his mum that he loved her and did want her back home, despite throwing her out last week! However, he added that Cindy was his priority.

The pound signs were soon showing in Ian's eyes when he met Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry), and he invited Nish and his wife Suki (Balvinder Sopal) over for lunch. Will Ian form a business partnership with ruthless Nish?

And while Ian reminds us of his exhausting penchant for chasing the next money-making opportunity, might we be seeing Cindy Jr any time soon?

Read more:

• EastEnders' epic Cindy Beale return week was a true gift from the soap gods
• Former EastEnders star Caroline Paterson makes emotional return to Walford set
• EastEnders confirms the “unwelcome” return date for Emma Harding
• Why EastEnders must resurrect Fatboy next after glorious flashback cameo
• EastEnders' Ricky Norwood reacts to epic Fatboy return: "Absolutely thrilled"
• EastEnders addresses major character absence amid Cindy Beale return
• EastEnders icon teases return of Cindy Beale's "bad" side in love triangle

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer. Visit our dedicated EastEnders page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.

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