EastEnders fans getting excited as soap teases Ian Beale return

Viewers think Ian might be back for his mum's wedding

Ian Beale (ADAM WOODYATT) - (BBC - Photographer: Kieron McCarron/Jack Barnes)
Adam Woodyatt stars as Ian Beale. (BBC)

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!"

Read more: Adam Woodyatt makes EastEnders comeback as Ian Beale for Dot Cotton's funeral

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

LAVERSTOKE PARK, HAMPSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM - 2022/08/28: Adam Woodyatt, best known for playing Ian Beal in EastEnders, being interviewed on the Star Fest Stage at Car Fest South. Car Fest South is an annual festival attended by music artists and special celebrity guests. Chris Evans hosts this weekend festival yearly to raise money for children's charities. Each day he hosts the best music artists on the main stage. Many cars are also on display, and some are on track. (Photo by Bonnie Britain/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Adam Woodyatt is returning to the soap. (SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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.

Michelle Collins arrives for the civil partnership ceremony of former EastEnders star Michael Cashman, 55 and his partner of 23 years Paul Cottingham, 41, in London, Saturday March 11, 2006. Mr Cashman, who is now a Labour Euro-MP and gay rights activist, played the first major gay character in EastEnders in the mid-1980s. See PA Story SHOWBIZ Wedding. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Photo credit should read: Steve Parsons/PA. ... SHOWBIZ Wedding ... 11-03-2006 ... London ... UK ... PRESS ASSOCIATION photo. Photo Credit should read: Steve Parsons/PA. Unique Reference No. 3317722   (Photo by Steve Parsons - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
Cindy (Michelle Collins) is heading back to Walford. (PA Images via Getty Images)

"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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