22 June 2023 , 19:03
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Cindy Beale's whereabouts for the past 25 years has finally been revealed on EastEnders tonight.
In a special 35 minute episode aired on BBC One this evening, it was confirmed that Cindy Beale has been alive all this time. Last thing we knew about Cindy – played by Michelle Collins – is that Ian was told she had died in childbirth whilst in prison.
She was serving a sentence for her part in the attempted murder of her own ex-husband Ian Beale, and she was carted off to prison to spend a significant amount of days there. Whilst viewers and Walford residents believed that was where it all ended for Cindy, when news reached them that she had died in prison, this was very far from the truth.
Tonight, viewers found out what had really happened to Cindy Beale in this time, and how she re-connected with Ian Beale.
In the feature long episode, it was revealed Cindy has been living with her ex-husband Ian Beale in France for some time. She had been in prison, as we knew, but from there, things are very different.
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Cindy went into witness protection and assumed her new identity, Rose Knight. She then met and married George Knight, who appears to be none the wiser about her history and connection with Albert Square.
We found out more about Cindy and Ian's new life tonightThe pair now have two children, Gina and Anna, who also seem to be unaware about her true identity, what she's doing now and that George has still been trying to contact her. In last night's episode, we saw him make a phone call to 'Rose' – but she refused to answer.
Speaking about her return to the BBC One soap, Michelle admitted it was "surreal" but when she heard how she'd be coming back, she said it was an offer she couldn't refuse, and she was glad Adam Woodyatt was in on it too.
"It's surreal. It’s nerve-wracking but it’s also very exciting," she said, "Do you know what, I didn’t think they could ever do it. Life is about timing. If it had happened five years ago, I probably would’ve said no. Adam and I were both touring and he’d mentioned it to me.
"I said to my agent, 'Obviously it’s ridiculous, but let’s just go and meet Chris'. And we had this breakfast meeting and he got his laptop out and he reeled it off and we both went, ‘wow’. Oh my God. It was incredible. And I was just like, actually, maybe this could work."
Ahead of the fans finding out tonight how it all happened, Michelle said the storyline was "genius".
"Cindy was completely living this double life. It’s feasible. You have to have a back story of where she was, where has she been, what has she been doing. It’s genius the way it’s all been put together," she revealed.