Sean Slater has made a surprise return to Walford, appearing in Monday's (November 2) episode of EastEnders as he helped Jack Branning search for missing teenager Amy Mitchell. Sean (Robert Kazinsky) and Jack (Scott Maslen) returned to Albert Square after looking for Amy (Ellie Dadd) all night, but Sean is not Amy's biological father.
Sean's Return and the Search for Amy
Fans of the BBC One soap know that Amy is being groomed by Jack's former police colleague Craig Ingram (Matthew James Bailey), and the pair are currently on the run. Jack and Sean reported back to the family, but Callum Highway (Tony Clay) arrived and told them off for going rogue and carrying out an unofficial investigation.
Jack was forced to admit that Amy received her £100,000 inheritance money early after Max Branning (Jake Wood) signed it off, which was news to Sean. Max was summoned, where he explained to Sean that he had a plan to stop Amy and Craig, but things went wrong and they fled. Sean was furious and confronted Max about his wrongdoing over decades, convinced that he was hiding something.
Sean's Emotional Connection to Amy
In The Vic, Sean was comforted by his mum Jean Slater (Gillian Wright), who said he should save himself the pain of getting involved with Amy's disappearance. Sean, who explained he was back for Zoe Slater's funeral but his flight was delayed, emotionally reflected on how happy he was when Amy was born and said he was desperate to make good on the promise he made to Roxy that he would look after her daughter.
Lily then arrived with her young daughter Charli's tablet, showing Sean and Jean that Amy had used the device to open a bank account. Sean and Jack brought this evidence to the station, but they were then told to let the police do their jobs. That evening, Sean thanked Lily for her support, but when Lily remarked how worried Amy is about Denise Fox (Diane Parish), Sean was left with food for thought.
Sean Is Not Amy's Biological Father
Elsewhere, Craig told Amy that they were leaving for France that night. However, he later realised that the bank account had been suspended and as he raged at Amy for not hiding the money, he hit her.
Sean Slater is not Amy's dad. Jack Branning is Amy's father, with the late Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) being Amy's mother. Roxy had been romantically involved with Sean, but she'd had a fling with Jack, who was with her sister Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack). Both relationships had been on and off at the time, while Roxy let Sean believe he was her baby's father.
It was only after Amy was born that Sean discovered he was not Amy's biological father, and he subsequently found out that Jack was. This triggered Sean's dramatic departure from the soap and brought his relationship with Roxy to an end. Sean and Roxy had been together for some time before the revelation about Amy caused him to walk away. When Sean made his return to the show following Roxy's tragic death, he confessed he had never got over her.
The pair had lost touch entirely, yet out of his deep love for Roxy, Sean still held a strong affection for Amy, whom he had once believed to be his daughter. This is precisely why he's so determined to help Jack track Amy down. EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer from 6am.
