EastEnders fans getting excited as soap teases Ian Beale return

EastEnders has teased the return of Ian Beale and fans are thrilled.

The character - played by Adam Woodyatt for 37 years - has been absent from the BBC soap as the actor went on hiatus to tour with theatre production Looking Good Dead and go on I'm A Celebrity.

Viewers have been desperate for him to return to Albert Square but Woodyatt has kept people guessing for months, teasing on Steph’s Packed Lunch last year: “I could go back, and I could not go back. I don't know!"

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However, it was recently reported that the character is headed back to Walford this year.

And he came up this week, with his mum Kathy (Gillian Taylforth) saying she would like him at her wedding.

Fans could barely contain their excitement about his comeback.

"Oh God that’s Ian back for sure then," one tweeted.

"It looks like they’re going to detonate the Ian bomb," said another.

One fan said they had "big Ian Beale vibes going on", and somebody else wrote: "Ngl I think bringing back Ian is such a genius move; interacting with all the new characters on the Square."

Ian's comeback is expected to involve the return of his ex Cindy (Michelle Collins), who died off-screen after being sent to prison.

"Ian is gonna turn up at Kathy's wedding with Cindy, isn't he?!!!" said one excited viewer.

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"Pass the popcorn! I am SEATED."

Another wrote: "If Cindy truly is back from the dead in #EastEnders, I need an Ian breakdown scene where he asks himself why all the women in his life fake their death."

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