EastEnders fans left gobsmacked as Rose Knight is revealed to be Cindy Beale

EastEnders fans were left in complete shock during Wednesday’s episode when the mysterious Rose Knight’s identity was finally revealed.

In the closing seconds of the episode, Rose’s double life was revealed as she was finally confirmed to be non-other than the notorious Cindy Beale.

The massive twist saw the Queen Vic landlord George Knight (Colin Salmon) attempt to call his ex-wife ‘Rose’ after Phil Mitchell discovered she wasn’t who she claimed to be.

In a tense moment, George stood in the Queen Vic as Seal’s Kiss From A Rose played on the pub’s jukebox, before the scene dramatically flashed to a sun lounger in Spain.

A mysterious hand could be seen rejecting the call before picking up a glass of wine, with the shot then flashing to show Cindy’s face, confirming weeks of suspicion over Rose’s real identity. 

The huge reveal comes 26 years after Cindy (Michelle Collins) was believed to have died in childbirth after plotting to kill her then-husband.

Fans were left completely stunned by the revelation, and took to Twitter to share their shock over Cindy’s unexpected return.

One fan wrote: ‘I don’t watch eastEnders much anymore but I literally just screamed at the TV, she’s back!’

Another wrote: ‘That was AN ICONIC DUFF DUFF!!!,’ while a third said: ‘OMG it’s Cindy Beale.’

And a fourth commented: ‘Yesssss I am screaming!,’ and another added: ‘WHAAAAT!!!! I’m so shocked!!! So glad Cindy is back!! Eeeeek.’

The tension had been building up throughout the episode, gearing towards the grand reveal of Rose’s true identity.

Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) had been digging into George’s past as he wanted to know who he was going into business with at the Queen Vic.

After contacting his friends in the police to dig into George’s ex-wife ‘Rose’, Phil confronted a confused George, saying he had lied to him. 

Big reveal: At the end of the episode, George tried to call his ex-wife Rose after Phil Mitchell discovered she wasn’t who she said she was, with Cindy then shown rejecting the call 

Gobsmacked: Fans were left completely stunned by the revelation, and took to Twitter to share their shock over Cindy’s unexpected return

Phil said: ‘I like people being straight with me… the Old Bill have put a stop on everything to do with your ex.’

George asked: ‘What? Why?’ 

To which Phil said: ‘It means there’s more to this than what you’ve been telling me.’

But George insisted: ‘I’ve been straight with you on everything.’ 

After digging for more information, George then followed Phil and Linda upstairs, where they had gathered to speak about George’s ex-wife. 

Phil told George: ‘I need to know who I’m going into business with, I don’t want any surprises.’

He then revealed that he had found out more information about Rose’s whereabouts, with George then asking him if she was OK and why she hadn’t been in touch with their two daughters Anna (Molly Rainford) and Gina (Francesca Henry).

Phil said: ‘All the Spanish police would say is she’s got a new life now, about her old life, she doesn’t want to know.’

To which George asked: ‘She doesn’t want to know about her girls? There’s got to be more to it.’

Linda then apologised to George for not trusting him, and he revealed that Rose had left their family home after a huge argument, and despite his attempts to get in touch with her, she had never responded.

Linda was quick to comfort George, who told her that his daughters didn’t know anything about the row and the situation surrounding Rose’s disappearance.

George then returned downstairs to close up the pub, while Phil loitered and waited for the place to empty before dropping another bombshell about Rose.

Return: Cindy could be seen relaxing on a sun lounger and drinking a glass of wine in Spain, 26 years after she was believed to have died in childbirth 

Tension: The reveal came after Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) had been digging into George’s past as he wanted to know who he was going into business with at the Queen Vic

Family: The bombshell reveal will no doubt cause a stir for George and his two daughters Anna (Molly Rainford) and Gina (Francesca Henry) 

George told him: ‘I thought your brief was checking to see if I had any problem with the tax, I didn’t realise you were poking around my personal life, that’s way out of order. 

‘I can’t do business with a chancer who does business like that, so if that’s why you’re waiting.’

But Phil revealed more information, telling him: ‘What I said about the Spanish police was right, up to a point. 

‘They did their checks, every time they did, they hit a brick wall, every time the same story came back, every time. 

‘I don’t know who you were shacked up with all those years, but she weren’t who she said she was. 

‘Nobody with the name Rose Knight with the details you gave me, ever existed. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

A shocked George then looked angry and upset, before dialling Rose’s number into her mobile in an attempt to get back in touch with her.

The scene then flashed to Cindy rejecting the phone call, confirming that Rose’s true identity is none other than the notorious character. 

George arrived in Walford earlier this month, after his new girlfriend Elaine Peacock invested money in her daughter Linda Carter’s pub. 

Cindy supposedly died while serving time in prison for hiring a hitman to kill her then-husband Ian Beale, played by Adam Woodyatt. 

New arrivals: George arrived in Walford earlier this month, after his new girlfriend Elaine Peacock invested money in her daughter Linda Carter’s pub

Drama: Cindy is set to reunite with her long-suffering ex-husband Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) upon her epic return to the soap opera

Cover up: Cindy supposedly died while serving time in prison for hiring a hitman to kill Ian (both pictured in 1989), but it appears she has been living a double life 

But it appears she has been living a double life under the moniker ‘Rose Knight’. 

And she is set to reunite with her long-suffering ex-husband Ian upon her epic return to the soap opera.

Michelle, who also played Stella Price in Coronation Street from 2011 to 2014, said she initially thought a comeback was ‘ridiculous’.

‘I think if it had happened five years ago I probably would have said no,’ she told a press conference. ‘But it’s about timing and when Chris approached Adam and I and we’d both been touring and he’d mentioned it to me and I said don’t be silly.

‘And then we had a meeting and I said to my agent, ‘oh this is ridiculous, it’s never going to happen’. And they said let’s just go and meet Chris [Clenshaw, producer]. And we had this breakfast meeting and he got his laptop out and he reeled it all off.

‘And we both went ‘wow, oh my god’. And then I was like maybe this could work.’

Cindy first arrived in Albert Square in 1988, striking up a relationship with Ian after tiring of barman Simon Wicks, played by Nick Berry.

She later married Ian after a brief fling with Simon saw her fall pregnant with her son Steven. Simon eventually convinced her to tell Ian the truth and to leave him.

The pair left Walford, but Cindy returned in 1992, rekindled with Ian, and welcomed twins Lucy and Peter, before having an affair with lifeguard Matt and later her ex-Simon’s half-brother, David.

After Ian threatened to take her to court to get custody of their children, she had him shot by a hitman before fleeing. He later hired a private investigator who tracked her down in Italy where she was living with her new boyfriend Nick Holland. On returning to Walford she was arrested for conspiracy to murder.

Exciting: Cindy first arrived in Albert Square in 1988, striking up a relationship with Ian after tiring of barman Simon Wicks, played by Nick Berry  

In 1998, Ian received the news that she had died giving birth to her daughter with Nick.

Michelle said she was ‘incredibly nervous’ on returning to the soap but said by the end of a six-page scene with Woodyatt ‘it was like putting on a pair of old slippers’.

She added: ‘Both of us have mellowed and I think we’re both just kind of comfortable in our lives and it felt like it’s the right kind of time.’

EastEnders airs the truth about George’s past on Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and iPlayer.