Robert Kazinsky makes one-off return to EastEnders as Sean Slater

Sean’s return to Walford in tonight’s (1st November) episode was kept under wraps prior to airing.

Jean (Gillian Wright) summoned her son back to Albert Square to help get rid of Stacey’s wife Eve (Heather Peace), amid fears that she could be a bad influence on Stacey (Lacey Turner).

Jean was left flabbergasted last week when she found out that her newly-released daughter got married in prison to her cellmate, Eve.

Stacey explained to her mum that Eve is just a friend and the marriage was a way of helping her to get parole – but Jean is worried about the deception being found out, and about Eve’s violent past.

So to reduce the chance of Stacey being recalled to prison, Jean lured her son back to Albert Square in tonight’s episode (1^st November) to apply pressure on Eve to leave the Slater house – something that Sean succeeded in doing.

However, when Stacey returned home and revealed that Eve has been helping the Slaters in their dispute with Suki, Sean realised that she may not be as bad as their mum has made out.

As Stacey fretted over Eve’s whereabouts, Sean quickly excused himself and left the Square once more.

Kazinsky previously played the role of Sean between 2006-2008 and for six episodes in 2019. The character of Sean proved popular with EastEnders fans and the actor won a number of awards for his portrayal of the tortured soul.

Sean’s storylines have included his fractious family relationships, dating Ruby Allen to get his hands on her dad’s money, conspiring with Tanya Branning to kill her husband Max, and his fiery relationship with Roxy Mitchell who deceived him over the paternity of her daughter.

In 2019, the soap worked with Samaritans as Sean contemplated taking his own life over the guilt he felt at inadvertently causing his father’s death.

EastEnders continues tomorrow at 7.30pm on BBC One (8pm BBC Scotland).