EastEnders star Alice Haig has addressed the possibility of Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) returning in time for Vicki Fowler's wedding. Sharon has not been seen since October, just weeks after her dramatic return to the BBC One soap, which brought her face-to-face with Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan). It was a showdown two decades in the making, with Sharon still struggling with the death of her father Den (Leslie Grantham), which she held Zoe partly responsible for.
Amid the chaos of Zoe's comeback, the former Queen Vic landlady was also left reeling when Vicki was attacked by stepson Joel Marshall (Max Murray) and resolved to get her out of Walford. Vicki subsequently returned without Sharon and discovered that Zoe had fabricated the entire story about Dennis being her missing son's father. Without wasting a second, she notified Sharon, who was so heartbroken by the development that she resolved to stay away, stating that the news was like Denny had 'died all over again.' Sharon headed to America to stay with Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully) and has not yet returned to screens.
Could that all change next week? The perfect time for a grand return is at your sister's wedding. In a few days, Vicki and Ross Marshall (Alex Walkinshaw) are due to tie the knot, and Alice Haig has been speaking about the possibility of Sharon appearing as a guest. 'Aw wouldn't that be lovely,' the actress said. 'I think Vicki is going to need all the family she can get. Kathy really steps up, she's there before it starts. You see her on the morning of the wedding, sorting out the marquee, organising the flowers, she's got her clipboard as well. She's providing a lot of support for Vicki. You've also got Mark. There's a tight knit family group – even Ian's around helping! Everyone has kind of rallied around to make this wedding happen.'
Whether Vicki and Ross actually tie the knot remains to be seen, as Zack Hudson (James Farrar) is struggling with being rejected by Vicki following their fling. While Vicki is busy preparing for the big day, Zack thinks it's the perfect time to give her a bracelet, hoping she'll wear it to show that he still matters. Thankfully, Vicki refuses. Feeling sorry for himself, Zack heads off in a sulk but is found by Ross. Keen to cause trouble, Zack hints to Ross that Vicki might be cheating again, making him question whether he can trust the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with.
'He's still fighting for Vicki,' Alice explained. 'He's clearly got deep feelings for Vicki. We see Zack doing something that's kind of cruel on both Vicki and Ross, where he starts to try and influence Ross's mind. That really starts to make Ross paranoid, and then if you factor that into a few conversations he has on the morning of the wedding, where people who know about the affair respond in a slightly strange way, two and two start to add up to four.'
When the wedding day arrives, Vicki is excited but also wonders why Ross is so quiet. Meanwhile, Zack continues dripping poison into Ross's ear by asking if he wants to go through with the wedding. There's also a mix-up with wedding cars, which means Vicki has to travel on the tube. She's late for the wedding, leaving Ross to grow increasingly nervous at the venue. When Vicki arrives, Zack follows after. Just as the ceremony begins, Ross comes to a realisation and asks if Zack was the man she slept with. Nightmare!
Teasing what happens after this moment, Alice said: 'I think it's so brilliantly done because the whole way leading up to that moment, we're expecting it to be revealed by Zack, or maybe one of the people on the Square who know now. I think there's an expectation that it's going to be revealed, and then we realise that it's Ross who works it out at the altar. I think at that moment obviously it's a huge panic, but you'll have to wait and see how she responds to that panic.'
Zack and Vicki's romance caused a huge reaction among the EastEnders fanbase. Zack is Sharon's half-brother, and Sharon is the adoptive half-sister of Vicki. They're not technically related, but seeing Zack and Vicki kiss left a fair few audience members with quite a lot to say. Alice has really enjoyed the contrast in reactions from the public. She shared that she's often approached by people who are totally against Zack and Vicki, while others are actually here for it.
'It's been really fascinating to be involved in this kind of storyline because when I arrived, the story was issue led with Joel and it was quite heavy. Vicki was in a very vulnerable position within that story whereas with this one, Vicki has a lot of agency and she's at the centre of it and she is making the choices. She's making the moves,' she said.
'Wherever I go people are like oh my god, what the hell is she thinking?! I love that there's such a strong view on both sides. Some people don't want her to be with either of them. They're like, please be on your own. I think they both offer such different things. With Zack, it's so uncomplicated, barring the sort of sharing a sister thing. It's uncomplicated, it's fun, it's sexy. With Ross, there's history and love and care. I think the audience has responded to that. There's a group of the audience that really don't like Zack because of the incest side of it. Obviously they're not related, they never knew each other growing up and they never even knew they shared a sister. I think it's sort of alright.'
She laughed: 'One thing that cracks me up is people are always saying that it's like a cougar thing, but I'm only three years older than him!'
