Charlie Cotton is returning to EastEnders, but is he preparing to lay claim to his son, Matthew?
Speculation has been mounting for a while that we would see Charlie again following his ex-wife Ronnie’s tragic New Year’s Day death.
Dot Cotton’s grandson is the father of Ronnie’s little boy, Matthew, but he was chased out of the Square by Vincent Hubbard when Ronnie decided she was done with him – oh, and because he was in love with Roxy.
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At the time of Charlie’s disappearance, many believed Vincent had killed him to please his lover Ronnie, but Mr C was later revealed to be safe and well – although too afraid of Ron to return Walford.
But now she’s dead and Vincent is a confirmed family man with wife Kim and daughter Pearl, we’ve all been wondering what exactly has been keeping Charlie away?
Dot tried contacting him when the Mitchell sisters first died, feeling it was only right that he took care of his boy.
But she confided in Glenda she couldn’t get hold of him. Does that mean he’s not interested in his son? Surely not.
Well, it seems he’s now been spotted on location filming scenes with Max Branning.
The plot is being kept tightly under wraps, and EastEnders have given their usual “we don’t comment on future storylines” statement about the whole thing. So just what is going on?
The pictures show Charlie watching Max from some scaffolding, but is he stalking him – or are they meeting up and planning something together?
Rumours are flying round that they are in fact working together to take Matthew from Jack.
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Jack’s so far been determined to hang on to the lad, and believes Max to be on his side, supporting him through it all.
But viewers know Max is plotting a major revenge against everyone who wronged him – including the brother that believed he was guilty of murdering Lucy Beale.
It’s hard to believe Max has forgiven and forgotten that easily. Is this another phase of his plan?
When Charlie first arrived, he was scheming with his dad, Nick, pretending Mr Cotton Senior had died, so he’s no stranger to a dodgy plot himself.
We don’t think it would be too difficult for Max to persuade Charlie to get on board with his vengeance plan. Is Charlie back for all the wrong reasons?