Sharon Watts is back in Walford, and she arrived on Tuesday May 26 with her young son Albie and several suitcases after being off EastEnders since last October. The return comes just as Grant Mitchell is leaving for Portugal, setting up another sharp turn in a week already crowded with family drama.
The immediate reason for Sharon’s comeback is Vicki Fowler’s wedding. Vicki has been having an affair with Zack Hudson, and Ross Marshall started to have second thoughts after Zack suggested she had been unfaithful once more. On Wednesday May 27, Sharon Marshall told This Morning that Sharon would be on screen only briefly for the wedding before disappearing again, then returning for good in about a month’s time. She said viewers had been asking whether Sharon was back for good because she arrived with just one small pink make-up bag, but confirmed the comeback was only temporary for now. “But then she’s back for good in about a month’s time, so we have got Shazza back, the world is healing,” she said.
That matters because Sharon is one of EastEnders’ biggest names, an icon who has been part of the soap for four decades, and her return has been held back until a storyline that can use her properly. The wedding gives the show a reason to bring her in now, but the longer stay is the real prize for viewers who have been waiting since last October. Sharon Marshall also hinted at the scale of the fallout to come, saying Sharon would return to find out that her brother has been sleeping with her sister, calling it “messy.”
There is still a neatness gap between what the show is selling and what it is actually doing. Sharon has arrived with family and luggage that suggest permanence, yet the production has made clear she is only back for a short stint before a fuller return later. For EastEnders, that means the emotional reunion is only the opening move. The real story is what happens when Sharon stays long enough to confront the fallout around Vicki, Zack and Ross — and to turn a wedding week into something much worse.
