A lot has changed since EastEnders’ Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) left Walford in search of Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) last month, not least his wife Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) buying the Queen Vic.

But if he thinks she’s about to roll the red carpet out for his return, he might want to think again.

Next week’s episodes will see Alfie finally come home after his secret trip, and it’s not long before Kat is tearing into him for lying about where he has been.

As fans of the BBC soap will remember, last month saw Kat’s estranged daughter Zoe make a sudden and unexpected reappearance after 20 years.

But shortly after she was reunited with cousin Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) and step-dad Alfie, she made a run for it with Alfie soon heading off to Spain to track her down.

With Kat in the dark about Zoe’s reappearance, Alfie lied to her and told her he was spending time with his brother Spencer Moon (Christopher Parker) in Australia.

When Kat later found out he wasn’t really in Australia, Stacey had to cover for him, lying that Alfie had another cancer scare and was away clearing his head.