Danny Walters makes shock EastEnders return

Danny Walters made a shock return to 'EastEnders' on Tuesday night (13.12.22).

The 29-year-old star's character appeared in Albert Square during the end of the episode, which mainly focused on the late Dot Branning's (June Brown) wake, and the actor managed to keep it a secret from most of his family members, telling them he was off playing golf rather than filming scenes.

He said: "I've limited the number of people I've told. None of my friends know, none of my family know.

"I've told my mum, my dad, my partner and my brother, although I probably shouldn't have told my brother!

"But it's been very tough because I've been making a lot of excuses. My in-laws and family members and cousins want to know what I'm up to and I'm just, 'Oh, I'm playing golf.' I've just been playing golf every day!

"It's been very hard to keep it a secret but I wanted to respect ['EastEnders' boss] Chris [Clenshaw] and the show here and what we're doing here today is the whole surprise of Keanu coming back. I wanted to keep it a secret in my life as well as much as it is for the show."

Keanu was last seen nearly three years ago in January 2020 before fleeing to Portugal after he had an affair with Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), who was married to Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) at the time.

But Danny admits viewers will see a "very different side" to the character this time around.

He added: "When I got the call from Chris, he told me about some of the storylines. Even as Chris was teasing some, I don't think he's told me everything yet, but his vision is incredible and I like what he's done with it, and all the writers involved and the directors and everything. So when I heard what he wants Keanu to do, I couldn't help but want to come back.

"I'm very privileged to be coming back in such an iconic episode. The way I'm playing him now, there's a new type of character that you'll see from Keanu – there's a very different side to him."