Charlie Cotton lined up for shock EastEnders return

EastEnders is lining up Charlie Cotton for another shock 2017 return.

Charlie Cotton, portrayed by Declan Bennett, has not appeared on-screen since 2015 when ex-wife Ronnie (Samantha Womack) scared him away from Walford and custody of their son, Matthew. It was heavily implied the devious Ronnie sorted him out using nefarious means, but later Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simmons) discovered he was alive and hiding out abroad.

However, given that Ronnie and Roxy both died a shocking swimming pool death on New Year’s Day, leaving stepdad Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) in charge of Matthew, we’ve suspected it was only a matter of time before Charlie returned to the picture.

New pictures taken by paparrazi reveal that Bennett is currently filming scenes with Jake Wood, who plays Jack’s conniving brother Max in the London soap.

Max returned to Walford late last year with seemingly little fanfare, despite the fact that he was supposed to be mad at his family for knowingly allowing him to be incarcerated for a crime he was innocent of. It was later revealed that Max is plotting to bring them all down, but not exactly what evil plans he has in store.

Bringing Charlie back into the mix could easily be a way to further manipulate his grieving brother Jack. Could the pair be in cohorts to retrieve baby Matthew?

Despite the pictures of Bennett on set, an EastEnders spokesperson refused to confirm Charlie’s return and what might be the reason for it.

Responding to Digital Spy, they said: “We never comment on speculative stories, as we don’t want to ruin it for the audience.”