Cindy Jnr in EastEnders was seemingly forgotten about when her mum Cindy Beale arrived back in Walford last summer. Apart from a brief mention, she was barely thought about.
But – FINALLY – Cindy Beale has waved goodbye to Walford – for now – and headed off to visit her daughter.
It’s going to be a big shock for young Cindy coming face to face with the mum she only met briefly as a newborn baby! Like everyone else, Cindy’s been under the impression that her mother was dead.
In fact, she’s still totally unaware that her mum’s alive. Though quite how no one’s mentioned the Beale resurrection to Cindy Jnr before now, we’re not sure!
So who is Cindy Jnr? Where is she? And will she show up in Walford when her mum returns?
Cindy Williams
Back in 1998, Cindy Beale was sent to jail for trying to bump off husband Ian. When she was banged up she was pregnant to her fiancé Nick Holland, who she’d met in Italy.
Off-screen, Cindy gave birth to a baby girl and then, so the Walford residents were told, she died. Nick didn’t want to know his daughter, so the baby – named Cindy Williams after her mum – was brought up by her grandmother Bev and her auntie Gina.
Poison pen letters
In 2007, Ian received some poison pen letters signed by someone posing as Cindy. He was convinced Gina – who’d never liked him – was behind the nasty correspondence.
So he headed off to Devon to confront his former sister-in-law, and met Cindy, who was then eight years old.
As it turned out, Ian’s letters were written by Cindy’s son, Steven Beale, so Gina was off the hook!
Cindy’s return to Walford
In 2013, someone broke into the Beales’ house on Albert Square. It turned out to be 14-year-old Cindy Jr, who wanted to see her half-brother Peter and half-sister Lucy.
Cindy made herself right at home and, just like her mum, caused trouble everywhere she went. She even stole money from Phil Mitchell!
But the biggest trouble came when she had a one-night stand with TJ Spraggan and got pregnant. Cindy struggled to deal with her pregnancy at first – especially as she had developed feelings for Liam Butcher.
Lucy Beale’s murder
When Lucy Beale – Cindy’s half-sister – was murdered, Cindy was a suspect, thanks to her resentment of her sibling. She’d told Ian and Jane that Cindy was a cocaine addict before her murder, and after Lucy was found dead, Cindy revealed her addiction to the police.
Ian was furious about it and threw Cindy out. She went back to Devon but returned to Walford heavily pregnant.
Cindy as a mum
When Cindy came back to Walford, she wasn’t just heavily pregnant – she was in labour! Ian helped deliver her baby, Beth, and the pair reconciled.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing. TJ decided he couldn’t cope with being a dad and went to live in Milton Keynes with his family – dad Terry and stepmum Bianca Jackson.
Still reeling from the revelation that Bobby killed Lucy – and with the family trying to keep the truth from confused Bobby – Cindy let Ian and Jane take on most of the care of little Beth.
They even took her on their honeymoon after they remarried.
Cindy made the decision to have Beth adopted but when Ian stepped up she worried he was using the baby as a distraction after losing Lucy. After a lot of backwards and forwards, she told Ian she didn’t want Beth to be adopted by him and Jane and if they didn’t let her give up her daughter, she’d tell everyone what Bobby did.
Harsh!
Eventually, though, Beth went to live with her dad TJ.
Leaving Walford
Cindy told her now boyfriend Liam about Lucy’s murderer being Bobby and he tried to bribe the Beales in exchange for keeping silent. Liam’s dad Ricky soon put a stop to the bribery though! Cindy and Liam went to live in Dusseldorf with Ricky.
Before she went, though, Cindy sent Bobby a video message telling him he was the murderer! Sharon intercepted it and Bobby never saw it.
Shortly after Cindy Beale returned to the Square, she found out Cindy Jnr and Liam had broken up and Cindy was off travelling.
How will she react when she finds out not only that her mum is alive, but she’s got two half-sisters she didn’t know about?!
Who played Cindy Jr?
Cindy was played by Mimi Keene. Since leaving EastEnders she’s gone on to huge success as Ruby Matthews in the Netflix show Sex Education.
She also starred in the romantic film After Everything.
Will Cindy return to EastEnders?
We would love to see Cindy Jnr back in Walford, stirring up trouble. Perhaps even with young Beth, who’d be nearly 10 years old now – the same age as Kat Slater’s twins Bert and Ernie.
Whether Mimi Keene would want to return – or even have the time to fit in a trip to EastEnders – remains to be seen, but the role could be recast, just as Johnny Carter and many other characters have been.
When Cindy Snr actress Michelle Collins first returned, she was asked whether Cindy Jnr could be making a return, Michelle confessed: “I don’t know. I can’t really tell you too much about her but I know she is alive. That’s about all I know. But possibly, who knows!”
Read more:Complete EastEnders cast list – meet them all here
EastEnders usually airs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One.
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