EastEnders’ John Partridge would return for ‘night out’ if Roxy was resurrected

Christian Clarke and Roxy Mitchell were best pals during their time in the soap.

By Lewis Knight

Published: Saturday, 29 April 2023 at 12:00 am

Actor John Partridge has revealed he would return for a guest appearance on EastEnders if Roxy Mitchell returned full-time.

Partridge portrayed the much-loved Christian Clarke on the BBC One soap from 2008 until 2012 before making guest appearances from 2014 until 2016.

A key component of Christian’s time on Albert Square was his friendship with the equally fun-loving Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons).

Sadly, Roxy was killed off in 2017 but Simons reprised the role earlier this week in an imagined interaction with her character’s on-screen daughter Amy Mitchell (Ellie Dadd).

However, some fans continue to live in the hope that the character could someday make a full-time return.

Speaking to RadioTimes.com while discussing his upcoming role in the Netflix docudrama Queen Cleopatra, John Partridge revealed his verdict on the prospect of a full-time resurrection for Roxy Mitchell and whether Christian would have to reunite with her for another night out.

“Well, listen, they’ve done it before,” commented John, “they’ve risen people from the dead before so you never know, do you?”

“I think if Rita did make a miraculous recovery, I do think that for Christian it would be his duty to have one final rock ‘n’ roll. I think he would have to come back from Birmingham, he’d have to leave his retail job in the Bullring [shopping centre] – I’m pretty sure that’s where he is, probably working for Jo Malone or The White Company in the Bullring – living his full retail fantasy.”

However, despite his love of the idea of a reunion between best pals Christian and Roxy, Partridge did admit that he felt that there was a “shelf-life” to the characters but as an actor, there is the old saying “never say never”.