In her first scenes following the announcement that she is leaving EastEnders, Michelle Ryan's character Zoe Slater was confronted by Sharon Watts in explosive scenes that left multiple characters enraged.
In Monday's episode, Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) stormed up to Zoe in the Queen Vic and threw a drink over her in front of Zoe's children, Jasmine and Josh (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness and Joshua Vaughn). As the twins protested, Sharon angrily yelled that Zoe was the reason she had to flee the Square, as Zoe had previously lied to her.
Backstory of the Lie
Back at the end of 2025, Zoe was desperate to find her children and told Sharon that her late husband Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman) was the father so that Sharon would pay for a private investigator. Dennis and Sharon's relationship started whilst he was already in a relationship with Zoe, making the lie believable. However, the father was really Anthony Trueman (Nicholas Bailey). When Zoe admitted that Dennis was not the father, Sharon left Walford broken-hearted.
Sharon's tirade at Zoe ended when Jasmine threatened to throw a drink on Sharon in revenge. Zoe later tried to apologise to Sharon for lying, but Sharon was not interested and made it clear she wanted Zoe to leave her alone.
Exit Announcement
These are Zoe's first scenes since it was revealed that Michelle Ryan was leaving the soap. It was reported that she quit after being denied time off from filming. As such, EastEnders is said to be set to kill Zoe off. A spokesperson told the Mirror: “We can confirm Zoe Slater will be departing EastEnders later this year. We wish Michelle Ryan all the best for the future. However, we never comment on future storylines as we don’t want to spoil it for the viewers.”
Historical Context
If Zoe is killed off, this would not be the first time an EastEnders character has died following an actor's decision to leave. Pam St Clement played Pat Butcher until the character died as a result of cancer. In 2015, St Clement told the Mirror: "It was very, very difficult. I was saying goodbye to a character I'd inhabited for almost 26 years and, while I had chosen to leave EastEnders, I didn't want Pat to die." She added: "I was adamant there should be a chance for her to return and had been assured by the executive producer she wouldn't be axed. When I felt the time had come to hang up the earrings I took Bryan Kirkwood, the then executive producer, out for dinner and broached the subject of leaving. One crucial thing I asked for was that Pat shouldn't be killed off. Bryan's response was unequivocal. He assured me that Pat wouldn't be axed." Yet she discovered a few months later that Pat was destined to die. "I was so shocked. Someone changed the goalposts. For the sake of a hard-hitting exit, Pat would be 'brown bread'," she said. "I truly don't know if I could have flatly refused to die – indeed, if I could have made any difference. I went away feeling empty and let down."
