A goodbye party for two characters took a sinister turn on the BBC soap

EastEnders fans are saying that they’ve ‘worked out’ who ‘it’s going to be’ after another major Zoe Slater stalker twist aired on the BBC soap.

Michelle Ryan’s character has been tormented for several months on Albert Square, believing that she is being targeted by someone just months after she returned. Zoe’s mission to find her missing son, who she gave birth to in 2006, has been disrupted at every turn.

To date, viewers have seen Zoe find ominous messages left for on Christmas cards, had her family pictures destroyed and believed that someone managed to break into the Queen Vic. Despite the storyline going on since before Halloween, Zoe is nowhere closer to figuring out what’s happening.

At the top of the suspects list is her aunt Jean Slater, who has been suffering with her mental health after her daughter Stacey decided to move to Brazil. Kat and Alfie Moon are worried she’s up to something, after she thanked them for finding her missing earrings which were found in her pub’s barrel room.

Another person who doesn’t appear to be totally innocent is Zoe’s former lover Anthony Trueman. Last week saw Zoe spending a night with the doctor, not knowing that he has lots of pictures of her saved on his laptop.

Anthony previously claimed that Zoe was suffering a mental breakdown prior to anyone noticing the attacks against her. This led many fans to point the finger at him for obsessing over his old fiancée.

In scenes aired on Monday (December 25), the Slaters were preparing for Freddie Slater and Anna Knight’s goodbye celebrations. It was previously confirmed that stars Bobby Brazier and Molly Rainford were leaving the soap.

Relations were fraught between Jean and the family as Lily worried that Jean was pushing herself too hard, while Kat tried to calm an increasingly agitated Zoe down.

During the goodbye part, Elaine Peacock made a speech about Freddie and Anna, but when the Square Christmas lights were switched on a worrying message was revealed in The Vic window which read ‘die’.

Later, Zoe discovered a can of spray paint and an empty box of lights in her bother Tommy’s rucksack and is now convinced he’s her secret tormentor. Meanwhile, Lily confronted Jean and revealed that she saw her stage the nasty surprise, with her grandmother admitting she wants Zoe gone.

Once again putting on their detective hats, EastEnders fans rushed to X, previously known as Twitter, to explain why they’re still noy buying that Jean nor Tommy are capable of attacking Zoe. Now, some fans believe that it may have been Lilly all along.

@OrlaBracken85 said: “I think it’s going to end up being Lily after all doing this stuff to Zoe which would be a twist as nobody is looking her way #eastenders.” @JermaineHoodC added: “This Zoe storyline is really dragging now, I don’t even care who it was at this point. #Eastenders.”

@RyanSoapKing25 wrote: “But I still don’t think it is her – it can’t be that obvious and I feel Jean must’ve only confessed it to keep Lily quiet. Also Jean looks like she’s in the middle of another manic episode so she may not know what she is saying #EastEnders.”

@darhatnc commented: “Bit of a wild theory maybe but I think Lily is Zoe’s stalker. We have seen more of her anger this past year (Martin’s death fallout and Zoe playing a part in Stacey’s exit). #EastEnders.” @sigbinss posted: “the fact that i’m not even intrigued if it was tommy or jean proves how bored i am of this show #EastEnders.”