EastEnders’ boomerang stars who returned after their lives imploded – from marriage to a drug baron to failed US stint
It’s the revolving door of soap operas.
EastEnders actors seem to come and go, and come back again in the same time it takes to pour a pint at the Queen Vic.
This week saw the return of Sharon Watt’s ex Keanu Taylor and iconic character Ian Beale.
Keanu, played by Danny Walters, is back to win Sharon’s heart after their explosive split three years ago, while Ian turned up for Dot Cotton’s funeral – but actor Adam Woodyatt has hinted at a long-term comeback.
While most boomerang ‘Enders return after other projects, leaving Albert Square has proved a curse for others.
We take a look at some favourites whose lives took a turn for the worse in between appearances.
Sid Owen
His character’s name went down in EastEnders history for screen wife Bianca’s screams of “Rickaaaaaay!”.
Sid played car mechanic Ricky Butcher from 1988 until 2000 with occasional appearances until 2003.
When he stepped away Sid, 50, had to work hard to get clean after developing a £200 a night coke habit while on the show.
In an exclusive Sun interview last year, Sid told how he snorted coke while rehearsing lines and romped with groupies.
Two years ago he lost teeth after being hit in the face by a golf ball while on holiday in Thailand.
In January this year Sid, who starred on I’m A Celebrity in 2005, told how he begged medics to save his partner and their premature baby after an emergency hospital dash.
Partner Victoria Shores lost two pints of blood and needed a transfusion as daughter Skye was delivered four weeks early.
Fan were delighted when Sid returned to EastEnders this month, when Ricky showed up to check on scheming sister Janine.
Gillian Taylforth
Gillian had a series of gritty storylines from rape to alcoholism and domestic violence during her first stint on the show from the pilot episode in 1985.
She left the Square in 2000 and her character Kathy Beale was killed off-screen in 2006.
Gillian split from her partner of 23 years Geoff Knights in 2009, after 23 years together. She was grief-stricken when he later died of stomach cancer in 2013.
By then she was dating ex-convict Dave Fairbairn, 64, a former stockbroker jailed for importing one of the biggest ecstasy hauls ever seized in the UK.
He was given 15 years in jail in 2003 after being found guilty of planning to supply and import class A drugs but was released seven years into his sentence.
Gillian, 67, was still dating Fairbairn when she made a shock return to EastEnders in 2015, when producers brought her back in with a fake death storyline.
The pair split four years later when Gillian called off their wedding.
Fairburn was jailed for eight years last month for perverting the course of justice over claims he was being threatened after firearms were found at his home.
Charlie Brooks
Charlie has played the soap’s queen bitch Janine three times.
When she left for the second time in 2014 she hoped to make it big in America after winning a role on a pilot show alongside another Walford favourite, Michael Greco.
The programme, inspired by The Office and Extras, was based around the fictional relocation of UK stars to LA.
But the show was never picked up and Charlie went back to EastEnders last year and fans relished the comeback of one of Albert Square’s most-hated villains.
Charlie is set to leave the soap again this month amid explosive scenes between Janine and Mick Carter, played by Danny Dyer.
Danniella Westbrook
Danniella has fought a much-documented battle against drug addiction.
At one point the actress was taking so much cocaine that her nose septum collapsed.
She first appeared as Sam Mitchell in 1990 for 10 years but left after shocking pictures emerged of her collapsed nose.
Daniella joined again in 2009 for six but was axed amid personal problems.
The role of Sam Mitchell was eventually recast and given to actress Kim Metcalf, who returned to the soap in April this year.
Daniella was left hurt by the decision and threatened to sue the BBC – but in a recent interview the former Celebrity Big Brother star said she no longer felt sentimental over the long-running role.
She is making a comeback in a new adult pantomime, Sinderfella, alongside another ex Big Brother star Simon Gross.
Shane Richie
Shane joined as loveable rogue Alfie Moon in 2002 and left three years later.
He reprised the role in 2010 after on-screen wife Kat Slater also returned and the pair were given a six-part spin-off series, Redwater, in 2017.
Fans were treated to more short stints of Alfie in 2018 and 2019 when Shane intended to leave for good.
But he admitted to being skint when he appeared on I’m a Celebrity the following year.
Before entering Gwrych Castle, where the show was filmed due to Covid, he said: “I was going on tour, doing a TV series and panto but it all got cancelled in March. Now I’m literally skint.
“You save for a rainy day but you don’t expect the rainy day to last eight months. Thankfully I’ve been able to borrow money from mates, my family and the bank.”
There’s no wonder Shane was grateful to go back to EastEnders this September to try win back Kat as she got ready to marry Phil Mitchell.
Natalie Cassidy
Natalie found herself mercilessly mocked after making a fitness video following her departure from EastEnders.
She was paid £100k to lose four stone for her top-selling DVD Then and Now in 2007 and The Perfect Ten in 2013.
But she regained the weight within eight weeks and started to punish herself.
Natalie later said she regretted making the videos, admitting she was deeply unhappy and became obsessed with keeping the weight off, taking laxatives and skipping meals.
She said: “I’d avoid meals, I’d go out for walks instead of having lunch. I’d cancel dinners. I’d do anything to get out of eating.”
Natalie has been on the soap three times, from 1993 to 2007, 2010 to 2011 and 2014 to the present.
Louisa Lytton
Louisa was axed in 2006 after a year on the soap as Stacey Slater’s best pal, Ruby Allen.
She came back in 2018 but ended up in court for drink driving during her 12-year hiatus
In 2011, Louisa, who also starred in The Bill and Dancing on Ice, was given a 14-month driving ban and fined £350 after being arrested for drink driving.
Her manager Daren Dixon said afterwards: “She is very remorseful about this, and will move on. She will live and learn from it.
“She will take the course and just get on with it, she wasn’t hiding from it.
“She had only had one drink and was just over the limit, but she knows that the law is the law, she understands the severity of it, and that you can’t drink and drive.”
Louisa, 33, left the soap in September 2021 to have her first baby Aura, now one.
She last month said she’d been struck by mum “guilt” after leaving Aura for a week to star in the Vagina Monologues on stage.