EastEnders’ Sharon Watts returns to unexpected reunion tomorrow in dramatic first look clip
After five months away, Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) finally returns to EastEnders on Monday (22nd September 2025).
The iconic BBC One soap character left Walford following the funeral of dear friend Martin Fowler (James Bye) and went to go and stay with her oldest friend and Martin’s grieving sister, Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully, Jenna Russell), in Australia.
When Sharon left, she took her and ex-husband Phil Mitchell’s (Steve McFadden) son, Albie Watts (Arthur Gentleman), with her. Before Sharon left, she and Phil poised for a romantic reunion, but Phil discovered that she had shared a one-night stand with his brother and her first husband, Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp).
Before leaving, Sharon also gave a loan to her adopted half-sister and Michelle’s daughter, Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig), who actually used the money to help her partner, Ross Marshall (Alex Walkinshaw), pay off a victim of his twisted teenage son, Joel Marshall (Max Murray).
Now, on Monday, Sharon finally arrives back in Walford, and the show has released a first-look clip depicting her return to Albert Square in a black cab with her son Albie. Watch the clip below.
However, Sharon gets the shock of her life when, across the square, she sees her old foe Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) staring back at her from the Slater house.
The pair share a dramatic staring down of each other before Sharon retreats to her home with young Albie as Zoe looks on, bemused.
What happened between Sharon Watts and Zoe Slater in EastEnders?
Fans will recall that Sharon and Zoe were once fierce love rivals for Sharon’s adopted brother and later second husband, Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman).
Dennis was madly in love with Sharon despite a romance with Zoe, and the pair were poised to leave Walford together on Christmas Day 2004. However, Den Watts (Leslie Grantham), Dennis and Sharon’s evil father, convinced Zoe to lie about being pregnant with Dennis’s child.
The result saw Sharon leave Walford with Vicki, and Dennis stay with Zoe. Zoe struggled to try and conceive a child with Dennis after this and was manipulated by Den into sleeping with him to get pregnant.
Ultimately, Dennis caught Zoe in bed with his father and, knowing the truth, ended their relationship and tracked down Sharon to reunite with her.
In the aftermath, Zoe became pregnant with Den’s child, but his furious second wife, Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman), persuaded her to get an abortion.
Chrissie and Zoe then teamed up with an aggrieved Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf) to take further revenge on Den and engineered Sharon’s return to see Den’s true colours. As a result, Den violently attacked Chrissie until Zoe struck him with a doorstop and believed she had killed him to save Chrissie. Yet, after Zoe had left the scene, Den awoke until he was finally murdered by Chrissie with the same doorstop.
Sam witnessed the truth, but Chrissie allowed Zoe to think she was a killer, and they buried Den in cement in the Queen Vic basement. Eventually, Sam told Zoe the truth, and she punched Chrissie. Zoe also came clean that she aborted Den’s baby and did not suffer a miscarriage.
Zoe made a semblance of peace with Dennis and Sharon before leaving Walford for Ibiza in an emotional goodbye to Kat in 2005. Later that year, authorities discovered the truth of Den’s murder, sending Chrissie to prison for 20 years while Sam went on the run for four years.
In 2006, Zoe gave birth to twins, with her daughter apparently dying and the son being abandoned by a distraught Zoe. The father remains unknown.
What’s next for Sharon Watts in EastEnders?
Sharon reunites with her adopted half-sister Vicki and biological half-brother Zack Hudson (James Farrar), but she stays focused on Zoe’s presence in Walford and wants to confront her.
Despite any tension, Sharon eventually heads to the Vic and calls a truce with Zoe.
Elsewhere, the situation between Sharon and Phil remains awkward, but she tries to build bridges by suggesting he look after Albie, and he agrees.
Sharon turns her attention to Vicki and the debt she owes her, but Joel’s horrific behaviour overwhelms Vicki so much that she leaves the house and runs into Zoe. A brawl breaks out, and while Zack and Dr Anthony Trueman (Nicholas Bailey) try to break up the fight, someone strikes Zack accidentally.
Sharon is happy to share a warm moment with Phil, but soon discovers the drama between Vicki and Zoe.
Sharon storms over to the Vic to confront Zoe, but Zoe floors her with a shocking confession that leaves her in disbelief and furious.
Kat responds by throwing Sharon and Vicki out of the pub. Sharon doesn’t know what to think about Zoe’s confession, so her old friend and ex-husband Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) and his mother Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth) console her. Ian is sure that Zoe is lying, while Kat and her husband, Alfie Moon (Shane Richie), also question Zoe’s claims.
Just what is Zoe claiming, and is she telling the truth? And, if so, what will Sharon do now?