{"id":459414,"date":"2026-05-25T17:36:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T17:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/459414\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T17:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T17:36:14","slug":"eastenders-airs-shock-return-after-two-year-absence-in-early-iplayer-episode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/459414\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders airs shock return after two-year absence in early iPlayer episode"},"content":{"rendered":"

EastEnders spoilers<\/a> follow from Monday’s episode (25 May)<\/a>, which is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer<\/a> but hasn’t aired on BBC One yet.<\/p>\n

EastEnders has brought back Whitney Dean \u2013 two years on from her emotional Walford exit.<\/p>\n

Shona McGarty has reprised her role as Whitney as part of Zack Hudson’s ongoing love triangle storyline, which comes to a head in this week’s wedding episodes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"whitney<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Related: EastEnders reveals Kathy Beale’s role in huge wedding storyline<\/a><\/p>\n

Whitney made an unannounced guest return in Monday’s episode, which is streaming early now on iPlayer.<\/p>\n

Her comeback storyline began when Zack received an unexpected phone call and asked Kat and Alfie Moon for some time off from his duties at the Queen Vic.<\/p>\n

The cheeky charmer appeared to be hiding something, before he was spotted meeting with Whitney at the Knight Fusion restaurant.<\/p>\n

Clearly harbouring regrets over how things ended with his ex-fianc\u00e9e, Zack suggested that Whitney could move back to the Square. Sadly for him, she insisted that it was out of the question as she’s seeing someone else.<\/p>\n

Whitney’s EastEnders departure aired in May 2024<\/a> as Shona had decided to quit the show after 15 years.<\/p>\n

\"britney<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Related: EastEnders star reveals who Vicki should choose in huge wedding story<\/a><\/p>\n

The popular character moved to Wakefield with her baby daughter Dolly and schoolgirl Britney Wainwright, who she’d been fostering. Her final scenes saw her leaving Walford on a bus after saying goodbye to her loved ones.<\/p>\n

Although some fans felt that Whitney had rushed her decision<\/a>, Shona later told RSVP Live<\/a>: “I think she did get her happy ending. It makes sense the way she left on the bus, the way she came in. It was very fitting and quite nice, actually. At least she wasn’t under the bus! She could always come back.”<\/p>\n

She continued: “It feels great actually [to have left the soap] \u2013 I feel really free and excited for the future. I just had to be brave and make that decision. I had been toying with the idea for the last two or three years.”<\/p>\n

\"ross,<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Related: EastEnders star speaks out on surprise Julie Bates exit as cast pay tribute<\/a><\/p>\n

This week’s episodes revisit Zack’s feelings for Vicki Fowler<\/a> as he can’t resist meddling on the day she’s due to marry Ross Marshall.<\/p>\n

Zack questions Ross on whether it’s wise to go through with the ceremony after Vicki’s recent infidelity, although he slyly hides his ulterior motive. He also tries to get in Vicki’s head, urging her not to marry the wrong man.<\/p>\n

Could it be Whitney’s latest rejection that encourages Zack to start pursuing Vicki again?<\/p>\n

EastEnders airs on Mondays-Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast. <\/p>\n

Read more EastEnders spoilers on our dedicated homepage<\/a><\/p>\n

Visit our Streaming Guide<\/a> now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.<\/p>\n

The new edition of Living Legends, a collector’s edition exploring the royal family, is here! Buy The Royals in newsagents or online<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EastEnders spoilers follow from Monday’s episode (25 May), which is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[137241,635,214114,637,146,85,46,195853,636,214113,137371,411],"class_list":["post-459414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-4fbb6c53-ee1d-482c-98f0-74592502ffa0","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-eastenders-airs-shock-return-in-early-iplayer-episode","tag-subsection-eastenders","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}