BBC EastEnders airs harrowing Shirley bombshell but viewers ‘rumble’ Dean twist

EastEnders aired a harrowing Shirley Carter bombshell on Tuesday’s episode amid Dean Wicks’ explosive return to the hit BBC One soap.

Soap watchers and Linda Carter were in for a surprise on Monday night when Dean made a chilling return to Albert Square after seven years. To Linda’s horror, Dean plans to make Walford his home again as he is the Beales’ new business partner.

Dean’s decision to return is driven by his need to be close to the local hospital where his daughter Jade – who has cystic fibrosis – is receiving treatment and awaiting a life-saving lung transplant. Soap watchers will recall that Dean raped Linda in 2014 and was driven out of Walford after being disowned by his family in 2016.

On Tuesday’s episode, which continued from Monday, Dean continued to intimidate Linda in the Queen Vic’s kitchen, as he delivered a harrowing bombshell. Dean claimed that he was back in touch with his mother Shirley Carter and that he had convinced her that he was not a rapist, leaving Linda heartbroken.

Dean went on to claim that Shirley had been suffering with her mental health since the disappearance of Mick Carter and death of Tina Carter, even being admitted to a psychiatric hospital twice. Dean accused Linda of abandoning Shirley and he was the only person around to “put her back together”.

Viewers will recall that Shirley left Albert Square last December after Mick’s disappearance to stay with her daughter Carly Wicks. Earlier this year, Linda was horrified to see a photo of Shirley with Dean, which led to Linda distancing herself from her former mother-in-law.

A sceptical Linda was quick to ask about Shirley’s diagnosis and which hospital she had been at to which Dean ignored her questions. As Dean got more intimidating, Linda eventually snapped, threatening him with a knife as he quickly fled the scene. The episode ended with Linda telling her family: “I’ve got to get rid of him, I’ve got to stop Dean Wicks from moving back to Walford.”

However, soap watchers think Dean is lying about Shirley in a bid to manipulate Linda. Taking to social media, one person said: “So Shirley has been put in a mental health facility? You don’t know what you can believe with people like Dean… #EastEnders” while another added: “Dean is lying about Shirley isn’t he…#EastEnders.”

Elsewhere, another viewer thinks Dean is manipulating Shirley as they speculated: “Theory… Dean made Shirley sign away her assets without her realising while she’s been in the ward and that’s how he got the money?? #eastenders that or he’s kidnapped her and holding her hostage.”

It comes as Linda star Kellie Bright said of the Shirley bombshell: “It’s all those mind games again. Immediately, she feels guilt about Shirley and that she’s not kept in touch. Linda also feels guilt towards Mick because she knows that’s not what he would want for Shirley.

“I think she’s genuinely upset by what Dean says about Shirley – even though part of her, maybe the bigger part, thinks he’s making it up just to get to her. There is a little part of her that’s like, ‘Oh no, what if Shirley has been really ill and I haven’t been there?’ That’s what Dean does, he gets under her skin.”