Is Cindy Beale dead after EastEnders airs horrific attack on Christmas Day 2024?

The action centred around Cindy Beale (played by Michelle Collins) as her dirty affair secret was finally exposed to the Beales and Knights.

Cindy had promised to get out of the country with Ian and leave her horrible actions in a rare lifeline from rival Elaine (Harriet Thorpe) – though it was technically blackmail, as Elaine was threatening to reveal everything.

To be fair to her, Cindy took the opportunity and promised she would get out of Walford with her partner after Christmas dinner.

But as this is EastEnders and as it's Christmas, there was plenty of time for another twist.

It came from Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) who, it turned out, had overheard Cindy and Elaine talking about the incriminating tape evidence and set about getting her hands on the evidence herself.

In a cruel twist for Cindy, Lauren said she'd wrapped up the evidence as a secret Santa gift, set to be opened by someone she cares about a lot.

Cindy, of course, didn't think to look Ian's way, given her contempt for him, and went about checking various presents to save her skin.

But it was too late – Ian had plugged the USB stick into the laptop and it started playing for everyone, leaving George (Colin Salmon), Junior (Micah Balfour), Ian and the Beale/Knight kids devastated.

George went off the rails at his son for messing around with "what's his", in a move that left Elaine positively reeling – Cindy really has nothing to do with George any more, and she certainly isn't his possession.

Ian punched Junior and the pair got into a scrap, while Lauren looked on with delight.

Cindy tried to explain herself, but it was to no avail, and eventually spat venom at the entire family to point out their flaws.

With the Beales fully imploded, the Knight family didn't survive either, with Elaine slapping George round the face for how he reacted before kicking him out of the pub.

As Cindy ran off to salvage anything she could from Ian, Lauren turned triumphantly to Peter (Thomas Law) to ask if he believed her finally, but he was tired of the games, and told her to stay away after what she'd done to two families this Christmas, especially after she'd torn her own family apart with her Stax (Stacey/Max) reveal back in 2007.

Cindy, meanwhile, had rushed to the Beale household, where she found Ian in bits – and refusing to listen to her excuses.

Putting Kathy's (Gillian Taylforth) advice into action, he quite literally kicked Cindy to the curb, throwing her out of the house in the snow, explaining he was done with her.

Cindy decided it was time to get out of Walford and set about ordering a cab, but she'd have a long time to wait, with it being Christmas Day.

As she walked around the Square, those from the Beale and Knight families she'd hurt beyond repair seethed and cried.

Cindy looked down at the locket she'd got from Ian which used to belong to Lauren and kissed it before being smashed over the head with a shovel.

With the final image of her flat out on the floor, is Cindy dead? And who hit her?

Is Cindy Beale dead after EastEnders airs horrific attack on Christmas Day 2024?

At this point, we have no idea if Cindy Beale is dead or alive in EastEnders.

We'll have to tune in on Boxing Day to see whether the schemer lives or not.

It would certainly create drama with a murderous whodunnit for the 40th anniversary, but we also only just got Cindy back last year – so who knows?!

We'll have to tune in and find out...

Read more:

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• 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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