Aunt Babe (Annette Badland) in EastEnders was last seen in 2017, cursing the Queen Victoria pub outside in the rain.
The amount of trauma and heartbreak that followed for the Carter family after often leaves EastEnders viewers wondering if Aunt Babe’s curse worked extremely well – but could she be heading back to Albert Square soon to cause more trouble?
At the start of this week, George Knight (Colin Salmon) was given a surprise when his adoptive parents Gloria (Elizabeth Counsell) and Eddie (Christopher Fairbank) arrived.
Shortly after they got settled in, Gloria and Eddie confirmed that George was adopted via a process called farming, which saw children advertised for money for parents looking to give young people a home.
While George attempts to come to terms with the fact he doesn’t know a great deal about his heritage, some audience members are beginning to wonder if former character Aunt Babe might be involved in this storyline.
In 2015, Shirley (Linda Henry) took a trip away from Walford to Babe’s caravan in Ramsgate.
There, Shirley exposed Babe’s secret and revealed that her and Queenie Trott previously stole the babies of young women to sell.
The dark and troubled character explained to the Carters that she and Queenie ran an illedal adoption service which involved selling babies.
This is the most recent link EastEnders has to a storyline about child farming, so could this mean she was involved in Gloria and Eddie’s adoption of George?
Some fans seem to think so.
Speculating on Twitter/X, this user said: ‘No doubt Aunt Babe will have some link to the baby farming story. She was running an “advice centre” for pregnant women back in the day. So, somehow, the Carters and Knights will become linked for real.’
I don't like George adopted dad. It seems like he does not even like him, and it is all about the money.
This is definitely linked to Aunt Babe.#EastEnders
— Natasha ♒️ (@natashate1983) January 2, 2024
I’m advocating for Aunt Babe to return to EastEnders.
— 𝑺 (@xdesperado_) January 4, 2024
‘George’s story is interesting enough. It’s clear that Eddie is a massive racist and Gloria isn’t. The show isn’t being subtle here. A part of me wonders if they would connect this story to Babe and Queenie but not likely’, another pondered.
George and Cindy will probably have an affair by Valentine's Day then #EastEnders
— 🐦Shawn🤷♂️Lunn🐦 (@shawnlunn2002) January 3, 2024
With people convinced Eddie is hiding another secret from the Knight family, could it be Aunt Babe’s connection to them?
Or something else?
Speaking about the storyline, Executive Producer Chris Clenshaw said: ‘EastEnders has a rich history of telling challenging yet truthful stories which reflect past and present events.
‘George Knight’s storyline will force him to question the identity his parents gave him from childhood as he discovers the true means by which he was adopted.
‘It was imperative that we worked with experts and people with lived experience of farming to ensure the storyline is handled as sensitively and as accurately as possible.’
