A fan favourite EastEnders character has just made a shock return

He's baaaaack.

Shane Richie has opened up about his big return to EastEnders after Alfie Moon came back to Albert Square. The final moments of Thursday night's episode saw the character revealed as Hayley's 'mystery man'. For the majority of the episode, pregnant Hayley Slater had been pretending she was off to meet her mysterious boyfriend, 'Dave'. Only, when she knocked on the door of a hotel room, it was Alfie who opened the door and let her inside the room. https://twitter.com/bbceastenders/status/999726331217793024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-208088006656627329.ampproject.net%2F1527021682973%2Fframe.html And fans were pretty shaken by the EastEnders reveal. https://twitter.com/paul2v/status/999726968085057536 https://twitter.com/Brummiebird79/status/999726891715170309 https://twitter.com/ryanfellows2/status/999726665067630592 https://twitter.com/sherrie_monae/status/999726436045991936 However, it's not looking like Alfie will be around for too long - at least for now. Shane told the Evening Standard he had reprised the role for two episodes, but that it's "certainly not the last you will see of Alfie." As he explained how it was "all very secretive" filming the episodes, he said:

"We had code names, censored scripts, cars with blacked out windows. "Obviously John and the production team at EastEnders wanted to keep it a surprise for everyone, so it was really fun to be in on the secret. "It was exciting to be back at Elstree, especially without anyone knowing!"

While it's not immediately clear why Alfie is back, it looks like fans will be finding out soon enough - as well as what happened with Kat in Spain, and the reason behind his secret meeting with Hayley. Shane continued:

"Without giving too much away, I think that we are certainly going to learn more about what happened in Spain with Kat and Alfie as well as a few other things but that’s all I can say for now."