Kat’s back...& claws are out!
SHOCK COMEBACK FOR SOAP FAVE
SOAP favourite Kat Moon is back on TV screens next week – and her claws are out already.
Actress Jessie Wallace’s fiery leopard print-loving character was last on EastEnders in 2016.
She and TV husband Shane Richie, who played Alfie, left the BBC show to star in their own spin-off series set in Ireland called Redwater.
But it was a flop and has been axed. It finished last summer with Kat floating in the sea and seemingly dead after being struck by a boat.
Now Jessie has admitted she was not Redwater’s biggest fan either because TV bosses made her character bland and mousey.
She tells Radio Times: “It was diluted down to the point where Kat was quite unrecognisable.
“I missed the heels, the red lips and the leopard print.”
She adds that when she was asked back to EastEnders, there was only one request: “Can she be full-whack Kat? The louder and more brash the character, the better it is.”
Fans will see Kat make a shock return to Walford next week.
Her gran Big Mo (Laila Morse) arrives in Walford this week with Auntie Jean (Gillian Wright) and tells everyone Kat has died.
However, viewers will discover Mo may have a dodgy motive for telling porkies.
Jessie laughs: “Dear old Mo, she’s in a lot of trouble and doesn’t give a monkey’s what she’s doing as long as she’s earning a few quid. She’s a very evil lady.”
And although a trio of old Slaters will be back on the soap, one much loved star is absent – Michelle Ryan, who played Kat’s daughter Zoe.
She left in 2005 and has carved out a successful career in the UK in Merlin, Jekyll and Doctor Who and also in Hollywood as The Bionic Woman.
Kat’s husband, Alfie, will also be missing and it looks unlikely, for now, that Shane will be back. Jessie says: “It did feel weird without Shane. I’m sure he’s busy doing other stuff. I’m not sure what the writers have in store.”