{"id":29348,"date":"2023-01-29T02:00:55","date_gmt":"2023-01-29T01:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1776509"},"modified":"2023-01-29T03:29:39","modified_gmt":"2023-01-29T02:29:39","slug":"eastenders-confirms-explosive-return-for-lilys-father-ryan-malloy","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/eastenders-confirms-explosive-return-for-lilys-father-ryan-malloy\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders confirms explosive return for Lily\u2019s father Ryan Malloy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Actor Neil McDermott reprises his role as Ryan Malloy for a brief stint on the BBC One soap in February. <\/p>

By Lewis Knight\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 29 January 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Neil McDermott will reprise his role as Ryan Malloy on EastEnders<\/a> next month.<\/p>\n

The character will return to the BBC One soap opera for a short stint in February as part of the ongoing underage pregnancy storyline concerning his biological daughter Lily Slater<\/a> (Lillia Turner), the daughter of Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner).<\/p>\n

Ryan \u2013 who is the brother of the long-running character Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) \u2013 was last seen on-screen in 2016.<\/p>\n

Actor Neil McDermott said of his return to the soap: \u201cWhen I heard what the story was I was really pleased that the stars aligned and I was able to revisit Ryan and set foot back on the Square.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so lovely to see so many old friends and to work with Shona and Lacey again, as well as to meet and work with Ryan\u2019s daughter, played beautifully by Lillia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, executive producer Chris Clenshaw added: \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to welcome Neil back to the role of Ryan Malloy. Although we haven\u2019t seen Ryan for some years, his character is still intertwined in the history of two of the show\u2019s major characters, Stacey and Whitney.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t be more thrilled to have him back for a short while as he\u2019s thrust into the heart of the drama.\u201d<\/p>\n

Viewers will have to wait and see what reception awaits Ryan when he returns to Albert Square next month.<\/p>

Who is Ryan Malloy in EastEnders?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ryan Malloy is the brother of Whitney Dean and the father of Lily Slater.<\/strong><\/p>\n

First introduced in 2009, Ryan\u2019s first major storyline during his time on the soap saw him establishing a sibling relationship with Whitney Dean after they both grew up not knowing of each other due to their selfish mother, Debra Dean (Ruth Gemmell).<\/p>\n

Ryan later entered into a tumultuous romance and later marriage to Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks), which was complicated when it came out that he had fathered daughter Lily in a one-night-stand with Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner).<\/p>\n

Following this, a toxic love triangle emerged as Ryan began an affair with Stacey amid Janine\u2019s jealousy, culminating in Janine attempting to kill Ryan and then framing Stacey for attempted murder \u2013 forcing Stacey to flee Walford and imploding her marriage to Ryan.<\/p>\n