EastEnders star Gillian Taylforth promises “feasible” explanation for Kathy’s

EastEnders’ Phil Mitchell will lock his ex-wife Kathy Beale in The Arches tonight – but will Ben Mitchell finally find out his mum isn’t dead?

The 60-year-old actress made a shock appearance in the BBC One soap’s 30th anniversary live episode earlier this year and is now preparing for a permanent return and she’s admitted that while the writers have been great, she’s had to remind them about some of her early storylines. And he got all emotional and cried. “I was so shocked that I didn’t”, she explained.

Taylforth, 60 – who plays Kathy Beale in the BBC soap – said she was overcome with emotion once the news set in that executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins wanted her back.

“But then I got into the auto to go home and sobbed: ‘They want me back! They want me back!'”.

Her character was first written out in 1998, when she decided to leave the show.

She recalls going back to her dressing room after the episode aired: “On my phone, there was a message from my daughter saying ‘Oh God, mum, is it true you were in it?'”

“And then my son texted me: “Thank you, mother”.

Following several short-lived returns, the troubled Beale matriarch was eventually killed off in a auto crash overseas in 2006, leaving the window open for a return since her death occurred off-screen.

Gillian also revealed that she managed to keep her character’s grand return to the soap in February a complete surprise from her children, but her plans for a big reveal were foiled when they couldn’t be bothered to tune in.

However, she presumed it would be to present Adam Woodyatt – her onscreen son – with a cake.