EastEnders confirms Linda Carter as Christmas Day 2023 killer

Back in February, the flash-forward left fans deliberating who could be the killer out of The Six: Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth), Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), Denise Fox (Diane Parish), Linda Carter (Kellie Bright), and Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal).

Throughout the year, each of the women has been wrapped up in huge storylines showing them being wronged by the men in their lives.

So, how exactly did events go down? RadioTimes.com has you covered.

Who is the killer in EastEnders on Christmas Day 2023?

Linda Carter was officially confirmed to be the killer on Christmas Day 2023 in EastEnders.

The episode itself saw Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) attempt to tie the knot with Sharon. Still, his distraught sister Bernadette Taylor (Clair Norris) exposed his staged kidnapping of Sharon's son Albie to her ex-husband Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) who crashed the wedding with her to expose Keanu's crimes.

Sharon was horrified to hear the truth and punched Keanu in the face, getting blood on her hand, which she wiped on her wedding dress. In an argument with Keanu, Sharon taunted him by revealing a secret of her own: he isn't even Albie's dad, Phil is!

Keanu was angered as Sharon then left the church and called off the wedding, accompanied by friends Linda, Kathy, and Denise - the latter two also avoiding their lying estranged husbands, Tom "Rocky" Cotton (Brian Conley) and Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), respectively.

Phil was also shocked to hear this truth and that his wife Kat Mitchell (Jessie Wallace) was already aware. Back in the Square, a talk with Kat saw Phil decide he wanted to be part of Albie's life.

As a snowy night fell over Walford, Sharon, Linda, Denise, and Kathy arrived in the Vic and poured themselves drinks before Phil arrived and made clear his intention to be part of Albie's life, but Sharon was resistant due to his parenting of Ben and Denny. Phil grew angry at Sharon's reaction and when Kathy tried to intervene, Phil pushed Kathy aside and ripped her dress before vowing to Sharon that he would fight for his son and then left.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Stacey and Eve Unwin (Heather Peace) railed at Jack for ratting on their plan to frame Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) and Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) for Eve's murder by telling the police Eve was alive. This prompted a concerned Jack to decide to check in on Suki at her home - who sent him away despite Nish's presence.

At the Panesar house, Suki was shocked when first Ravi returned from being held by the police, followed by Nish who forced her to sit down for a Christmas meal and attacked her at the table and then in the kitchen in front of his family and the children, prompting Ravi to intervene and restrain his father, allowing Suki to escape the house.

Amid a physical fight with his son, Nish violently struck Ravi with a rolling pin, knocking him unconscious, and prompting him to chase after Suki.

In the snowy Square, Suki searched for Eve at the Slater house but Stacey saw her out on the Square and they ran for safety in the Queen Vic, joining the other four women of the Six inside.

Once in the pub, Suki revealed she was fleeing Nish to be with Eve, coming out to Sharon, Kathy, Denise, and Linda - who were all surprised by the revelation about her sexuality.

The women shared a toast but the discussion of the men in their lives saw an upset Kathy leave the room and Denise followed after her to check on her.

After this, a struggling Linda headed upstairs inside the Queen Vic and began drinking a bottle of vodka as she grieved amid her first Christmas without true love Mick Carter (Danny Dyer), unaware that Mick's brother and her vengeful tormentor, Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo), was hiding upstairs too. Linda found a gift that Dean had left for Gina but he carried on hiding upstairs. Linda then saw the backdoor open and shut it.

Suki got a call revealing that Nish had escaped him before she saw that a taxi had been cancelled. The rest of the Six railed in support of Suki and they all suggested to her that she call Nish to turn up at the Vic and they'll trap him.

At Sharon's house, an irate Keanu tore into Bernie for her betrayal and did not believe what Sharon said about his paternity. Bernie warned Keanu that Sharon would likely call the police.

Nish then turned up at the Vic and said 'Merry Christmas' to the Six women and she pulled a chair out for him and told him to sit down. Nish asked the other ladies to leave but they refused, prompting Nish to tell Suki to leave. The rest of the women remain adamant he won't be going, but he patronises them.

Suki proclaims that she is leaving Nish and is kicking him out of the family home, before proclaiming her love for Suki again. The rest of the women tell him to go and "crawl under the rock he came from".

A broken Nish proclaims his love for Suki again and apologises but she rejects him once again. Nish then fights with all of the women, prompting Denise to smash Nish over the head with the champagne bottle.

In the end, Nish lies apparently dead before Keanu walks into the Vic furious as Sharon orders him to leave he races upstairs to take Albie before the women stand around Keanu.

Sharon proclaims he won't see Albie again, a furious Keanu throttles Sharon before Linda stabs Keanu in the back with a two-pronged fork.

Keanu then falls down to the floor, while Suki gives Nish the kiss of life and he's gasping for breath.

Keanu is dead - and Linda killed him.

Read more:

• EastEnders 2023 recap – what you need to know for Christmas
• Every EastEnders Christmas episode ever, ranked
• EastEnders airs shock confrontations for The Six in early BBC iPlayer release
• EastEnders spoilers: Whitney Dean heartache in tragic fostering story
• EastEnders must give tragic heroine Whitney the happy ever after she deserves
• EastEnders boss Chris Clenshaw previews Christmas 2023 and The Six aftermath
• EastEnders' Letitia Dean on whether Sharon can forgive Keanu for kidnap secret
• EastEnders' Gillian Taylforth on Kathy and Rocky: "She can’t live with the constant lies"
• EastEnders' Diane Parish teases "heartbreak" in Christmas episode
• EastEnders' Lacey Turner on whether Stacey will kill again: "She will do whatever it takes to protect Eve"
• EastEnders' Balvinder Sopal: "People will be on the edge of their seats"
• EastEnders' Kellie Bright: "The body wasn't who I thought it would be"

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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