EastEnders family rocked by news of devastating family death
The news prompts one Walford icon to make a huge decision.
WHILE they may have survived Christmas and its murderous mayhem, the Mitchells get a shock as the new year begins.
Members of the famous EastEnders clan find out they’ve lost one of their own in upcoming scenes. Who could it be?
Phil Mitchell (portrayed by Steve McFadden) was on the hit list for this Christmas’ jaw-dropping murder mystery.
But in scenes recently aired on BBC One, on Christmas Day, it was revealed that Keanu Taylor was the real victim as he was stabbed by Linda Carter in the Queen Vic.
Having escaped death, Phil gets to live in Albert Square – and with the need to bond with Albie Watts, who was recently revealed to be his biological son.
Unfortunately, his former wife Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) made it clear she wanted him to stay away from the young boy due to his bad influence on his adult children.
Coming up, Phil gets another nasty shock when he hears that Aunt Sal has passed away.
The news hits Phil hard, particularly as Sal Martin, Peggy Mitchell’s sister, hadn’t been seen in Walford since 2017.
Shocked and devastated to lose yet another member of his beloved clan, the Walford baddie contemplates the importance of family.
This later prompts him to go see Sharon to ask for access to Albie once again, but her half-brother Zack Hudson (James Farrar) stops him in his tracks.
While Phil may be at a loss, his sister Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf) decides to step in to help.
Sam plays hard ball later on over Albie’s paternity and tells Zack that Phil will drag Sharon through the courts if she doesn’t give him access.
Zack correctly realises that Sam’s trying to win respect from Phil and warns her off.
Meanwhile, Phil is outraged to hear Sam’s been meddling and gives her a humiliating dressing down.
In later scenes, Sam can’t believe it when she discovers that Phil’s wife Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) knew about Albie’s paternity before her brother did.
She’s suspicious about what leverage Sharon has over Phil – but what could she find out?
Will Phil, a bona fide family man despite his chequered past, ever be able to bond with Albie?
Regular viewers of the London-based program will remember that Sharon and Phil both assumed the young boy was Keanu Taylor’s biological son due to her affair with the hunk.
But when Albie was kidnapped, as part of a scheme hatched by Keanu and his mother Karen, Sharon took her son to hospital in the hopes of getting him a clean bill of health after his ordeal.
However, she was soon shocked to discover that Albie had been diagnosed with a genetic condition known as AADT.
According to the medical professional present, Albie could only have this disorder if both of his parents were carriers, which prompted Sharon and Keanu to get tested.
Following their tests, Sharon was revealed to be a carrier of the gene while Keanu was told he wasn’t.
Due to him missing the earlier part of Sharon’s conversation with the consultant, Keanu had no clue this meant he wasn’t Albie’s father.
Phil, being the only other man Sharon was involved with at the time she got pregnant, was then revealed as Albie’s biological father, putting an end to the confusion.
EastEnders airs from Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One.
