EastEnders has aired a health update on a fan favourite character who has been missing from recent scenes – including Whitney Dean’s (Shona McGarty) dramatic wedding.
Fans will have noticed that Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) was absent from the wedding party, despite daughter Lily Slater (Lillia Turner) acting as bridesmaid.
Lily’s dad is Ryan Malloy – Whitney’s brother – which makes her Whitney’s niece.
As Lily followed Whitney down the aisle, Kat and Jean Slater (Jessie Wallace and Gillian Wright) watched on, while Stacey was nowhere to be seen.
When the wedding turned into a complete shambles following the bombshell of Zack Hudson and Lauren Branning’s (James Farrar and Jacqueline Jossa) one-night stand, the guests headed home, where there was yet more chaos for the Slaters.
Kat and Jean were immediately called to Alfie Moon’s (Shane Richie) flat, where they found Mo Harris (Laila Morse) nursing a head injury with Freddie Slater (Bobby Brazier) by her side.
Alfie had arrived home to find the door open and lashed out at who he thought was a burglar with an inflatable baseball bat, though it turned out to just be Mo and Freddie.
After encouraging Mo to go to hospital to get checked out, Jean and Kat headed back to No.31 with Freddie in tow, where Jean got him up to date with the goings on in the house.
She revealed that Stacey was in bed with a sickness bug, which explained her absence from the wedding.
Jean was clearly thrilled to have Freddie back, given their close bond, and revealed how happy Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman) would be to have him back.
Commenting that Freddie was back home where he belonged, she gave a huge update on sinister stalker Theo Hawthorne (William Ellis), revealing that he too was where he belonged: Behind bars.
Viewers will remember that Theo tormented poor Stacey for months, before eventually attempting to rape her in terrifying scenes.
Fortunately, Freddie came to her rescue and attacked Theo with an iron.
Though Stacey and Eve Unwin (Heather Peace) altered the crime scene to make it look as though Freddie had acted in self defence, he was arrested for attempted murder before being released on bail.
It was because of this that Jean advised him to go and stay with mum Little Mo.
Now, Freddie is back home, and Theo is set to spend the next ten years in prison, with Stacey having finally got justice.
