Cindy Beale has returned from the dead after more than two decades of leaving EastEnders – and even actress Michelle Collins was surprised.

On Thursday night (June 22), Michelle reprised her role as Cindy Beale who had supposedly died in childbirth while in jail for the attempted murder of her husband Ian Beale.

Michelle initially thought the idea of a return would be "ridiculous" until she received Cindy's "genius" backstory.

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In the special 35-minute episode, it was revealed that Cindy had actually turned informant for her ex-cellmate, which saw her enter a witness protection programme after she had been given a plea deal.

She changed her identity to Rose Knight and fell in love with George Knight, who is none the wiser about her past.

Cindy later walked out on George, who she shares two daughters with named Gina and Anna.

Nearer the end of the episode, Cindy was seen living in the French countryside with her ex-partner Ian in a shock twist.

Speaking about her return, Michelle said: "It's surreal. It’s nerve-wracking but it’s also very exciting.

"Do you know what, I didn’t think they could ever do it. Life is about timing. If it had happened five years ago, I probably would’ve said no. Adam and I were both touring and he’d mentioned it to me.

"I said to my agent, 'Obviously it’s ridiculous, but let’s just go and meet Chris'.

"And we had this breakfast meeting and he got his laptop out and he reeled it off and we both went, ‘wow’. Oh my God. It was incredible. And I was just like, actually, maybe this could work.”

Michelle said she soon realised the idea was "feasible" and said she was happy to get on board.

"Cindy was completely living this double life," she explained.

"It’s feasible. You have to have a back story of where she was, where has she been, what has she been doing. It’s genius the way it’s all been put together.”

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