BBC EastEnders writer knew Keanu Taylor’s fate for a year and shares ‘clever’ trick to keep death secret

EastEnders writer and soap queen, Sharon Marshall, has revealed she knew about Keanu Taylor’s fate on the BBC One soap for nearly a year.

Soap watchers were left hooked over Christmas as Keanu was murdered by Linda Carter as The Six – made up of Suki Panesar, Kathy Beale, Denise Fox, Stacey Slater, Sharon Watts and Linda – helped to cover it up. Over the festive episodes, fans finally learned the events of Christmas Day and who died, as well as who the killer was.

All became clear as an attack on Nish Panesar by Denise to save Suki happened as he dragged his wife towards the doors as she tried to end their marriage, which led to him being declared dead. But in a twist, Nish was revived by Suki, only for Keanu to walk in and see the scene.

Keanu made a run for it to get Sharon’s son Albie from upstairs after learning he wasn’t the biological father, and as the pair fought out the back of the pub he began to strangle her. Linda grabbed a knife and stabbed Keanu in the back to get him off of Sharon, resulting in his brutal death.

Viewers have since seen the six characters come up with a story as to the events of that evening, as Nish continues to fight for life. For now, Keanu’s body is hidden under the floor of the burnt out café, but it’s only a matter of time before his death risks being exposed.

Talking about all the upcoming soap spoilers on Wednesday’s This Morning, EastEnders writer and soap queen, Sharon, was grilled by host Rylan Clark over the festive whodunnit. Soap fans will recall that EastEnders dropped a flashforward hint last February teasing the murder ahead of the Christmas scenes.

Rylan said: “I can’t not ask about The Six because even if you don’t watch EastEnders, you couldn’t move for The Six! How long have you known for?” to which Sharon admitted: “Nearly a year! I’ve been utterly terrified about blurting anything out but yes, Keanu! I can finally say it, Keanu, yes, he is dead!”

However, Rylan was quick to point out filming pictures released just weeks before the Christmas episodes, where Keanu was seen fleeing the UK and at an airport. Sharon said of the snaps: “It was all a trick to throw you off the scent, wasn’t it!”

Yet the drama is far from over for The Six on EastEnders as in upcoming scenes, spoilers reveal that Kathy gets a warning that could leave all of them at risk of being exposed. The builders plan to start working on the café’s restoration, which will of course result in Keanu’s dead body being found.

Kathy, Suki and Linda see what is happening and warn the others, and they are forced to carry out the grim task of moving Keanu’s decomposing corpse. Suki manages to stop the building works going ahead that day, giving the women time to move the body.

But as the women get to it, Suki gets a phone call that could change everything. What has she learned, and will the women manage to get rid of Keanu’s body before it’s discovered by the builders or one of the Beales?