EastEnders' icon to make dramatic return and vows to wreak havoc across soap

28 February 2024 , 20:00

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Freddie Slater will also be returning (Image: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)

Laila Morse is returning home to Albert Square to play EastEnders favourite Mo Harris at the age of 78.

Big Mo is the Slater family’s battleaxe, infamous for one-liners and dodgy deals. Now she is back again to wreak havoc, with BBC One filming due to start in spring. Laila said she is delighted to return to Walford to bring Mo back to life.

She added: “EastEnders holds such a special place in my heart, and I can’t wait to be reunited with my on-screen family, who are like my family, as well as old and new faces.” Bosses have confirmed that Big Mo will be a permanent fixture on the show.

Laila was on the soap for 16 years from 2000 before returning for three years from 2018. Her iconic plots, included a feud with Pat Butcher, helping Sonia Fowler to give birth on Dot Cotton’s sofa, and pretending Kat Slater died in a cash-making scheme.

Laila Morse is returning to EastEnders with a bang (PA)

Mo left in 2021 to go on a cruise with fiancé Fat Elvis and made a guest appearance at Kat and Phil Mitchell’s botched wedding in 2022. Now she will dramatically return with great-grandson Freddie Slater (Bobby Brazier). Patsy Palmer (Bianca Jackson), Linda Henry (Shirley Carter)and Michelle Collins (Cindy Beale) have also made comebacks in recent years.

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The plot for Mo’s return remains under wraps but a source said: “Where Mo goes, trouble inevitably follows.” Executive producer Chris Clenshaw said: “Although her time away has been short-lived, the Slater family has endured a huge amount of drama. Mo’s return will be no different.

"We’re delighted to welcome Laila back permanently as she is thrust into the heart of the drama alongside great-grandson Freddie [played by Bobby Brazier]."

An exclusive first look at Mo and Freddie’s return will air on the soap’s TikTok channel, following them in Mo’s caravan home. Freddie has been away after he attacked Stacey Slater's stalker Theo Hawthorne and faced prison. Now after some time away Freddie is back, after staying with Mo in her caravan - while Freddie is thought to have been leaving to stay with his mother Little Mo Slater.

Mark Jefferies