EastEnders airs another game-changing twist for Sharon Watts in early BBC iPlayer release

After Callum Highway (Tony Clay) told father-in-law Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) that Sharon was acting suspiciously concerning the murder of her on/off lover Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters), Phil paid Sharon a visit.

He spied a text from Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) stating that Keanu's mother Karen (Lorraine Stanley) had left, but that Callum was questioning her version of events after she pinned the murder on her rapist, Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo).

When Phil demanded the truth from Sharon, she tried to dismiss him – but was ultimately forced to come clean about everything that happened last Christmas.

Phil was stunned as Sharon revealed how Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) had been struck down by Denise Fox (Diane Parish) due to attacking Suki (Balvinder Sopal), after which Keanu strangled Sharon and Linda stabbed him to save her life.

She also explained that Johnny Carter (Charlie Suff) and Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) now knew the truth.

Incredulous over this elaborate cover up, Phil insisted that relapsed alcoholic Linda was a loose cannon, offering to report her to the police himself to save Sharon from a lifetime of harbouring this dark secret.

Sharon told Phil that Linda was trying to stay sober once more, and pleaded with Phil to consider how his decision would affect Raymond (Michael Jose Pomares Calixte), the son he shares with Denise, as well as the likes of Suki, Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth) and Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner).

Sharon reminded Phil that she had loved Keanu, and had lost so many people in her life over the years. Noting that he owed Sharon after being indirectly responsible for the deaths of her son Denny (Bleu Landau) and his father Dennis (Nigel Harman), Phil vowed that no one would ever hear anything from him.

Phil and Sharon took a nostalgic trip down memory lane as she wondered how different life might have been if she had been as certain of their connection as Phil was when they first spent the night together in the 1990s.

Phil felt it was right that they had ended up sharing son Albie (Arthur Gentleman) together as, whether they were a couple or not, he and Sharon would always be soulmates.

The episode was certainly a compelling love letter to the relationship between Sharon and Phil, with stars Dean and McFadden drawing from their longstanding working partnership in the powerful scenes.

But the eventful instalment wasn't over yet, as Sharon and Phil kissed, sealing their agreement and leaving us wondering whether this marks yet another romantic reunion for the pair!

Will Sharon and Phil give it another go? And will Phil protect The Six's pact as promised?

Read more:

• EastEnders' Phil Mitchell's big demand over Keanu murder in early BBC iPlayer release
• RadioTimes.com Soap Awards reveals 2024 nominations
• EastEnders cast: Who is joining, leaving and returning to the soap?
• 5 EastEnders spoilers: Callum Highway and Phil Mitchell grow suspicious over Keanu’s murder

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

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