EastEnders' Shane Richie hopes for Kat and Alfie reunion

Quizzed on the growing connection between Alfie and Linda, Richie revealed it was never planned and grew organically as viewers voiced their approval of the pairing.

"It's interesting. That whole relationship between Alfie and Linda kind of took us by surprise," he explained. "The audience reaction was really positive.

"There was never talk with producers [or] writers that there was going to be a relationship, the fans of the show kind of went: 'Yeah, there's something there'."

Richie teased that "something may happen" this year or next year, but acknowledged that there continues to be speculation on the future of Alfie and Kat, whose marriage fell apart some time ago.

"There's always talk of Kat and Alfie," he continued. We're like the [Richard] Burton and [Elizabeth] Taylor of the soaps, aren't we? But at the moment, I'm really enjoying Alfie being single.

"There's a bromance with Alfie and Freddie; he's become like what Spencer [Moon, played by Christopher Parker] was back in the day – so I'm enjoying playing that at the moment."

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Richie continued: "There's always a space in my heart for Kat, so who knows? It's funny, every time we do a scene together, we always have to try to be aware that we don't give each other a sultry look... in case the audience says: 'Oh! They're back together!'"

Certainly, Alfie and Kat are one of the most popular couples to ever grace a British soap, which is a status that Richie seems passionate about preserving.

He added: "I think what we created over those 21 years... there was something iconic about it. Young people who were 15 or 16, who watched the show back then, are probably now married with kids – and their first romance on television was Kat and Alfie.

"I think our exec producer is aware of that. It's got to be treated with kid gloves."

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday nights on BBC One. Check out more of our Soaps coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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