Thursday\u2019s episode (22nd June 2023) saw the BBC One soap follow-up the dramatic reveal that Cindy Beale<\/a> (Michelle Collins) is alive and also the true identity of George Knight\u2019s (Colin Salmon<\/a>) wife, the missing Rose Knight<\/a>.<\/p>\n The new instalment revealed that Cindy was living in France with her first husband Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) and their eldest son, Peter Beale (once again played by Thomas Law<\/a>) and his son Louie Beale (Freddie Harrington).<\/p>\n However, an additional surprise occurred when Louie\u2019s mother Lauren Branning<\/a> turned up in a taxi to collect him.<\/p>\n Jossa was last seen in the role back in December 2022<\/a> when she appeared in a guest role for the funeral of her step-grandmother Dot Branning.<\/p> During the episode, Lauren revealed that she has been living with her mother Tanya Cross (Jo Joyner), who has been \u201cdriving her mad\u201d.<\/p>\n It remained clear that Lauren and Peter still have a spark with each other, but after Peter previously turned to drink and abandoned Lauren in New Zealand, there is a lot of water under the bridge.<\/p>\n Mentioning Peter\u2019s various recent affairs and previous troublesome behaviour, Lauren clearly had doubts.<\/p>\n Read More<\/strong><\/p>\n However, more doubts emerged when Lauren was shocked to learn that Peter\u2019s \u2018deceased\u2019 mother Cindy Beale was alive and well.<\/p>\n After Lauren chastised Cindy for being absent after Peter\u2019s sister Lucy Beale was murdered in 2014, she turned on Peter for keeping this huge secret.<\/p>\n Fearing there were too many lies with the Beale family, Lauren departed France with Louie in tow, to the sadness of Peter.<\/p>\n However, will we see Lauren in Albert Square again<\/a>?<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.\u00a0<\/strong>Visit our dedicated\u00a0EastEnders<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0page\u00a0<\/strong>for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers.\u00a0<\/strong>If you\u2019re looking for more to watch, check out our\u00a0<\/strong>TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Take part in\u00a0the Screen Test<\/a>, a project from Radio Times and the Universities of Sussex and Brighton, to explore the role of television and audio in our lives.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only \u00a31 with delivery to your home \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>subscribe now<\/strong><\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0<\/strong>The Radio Times Podcast<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Actress Jacqueline Jossa reprised her role as Lauren Branning for the special extended episode of the BBC One soap. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":34148,"template":"","categories":[1,2,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/06\/eastenders-airs-surprise-return-for-lauren-branning-amid-peter-beale-reunion.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/06\/eastenders-airs-surprise-return-for-lauren-branning-amid-peter-beale-reunion-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/06\/eastenders-airs-surprise-return-for-lauren-branning-amid-peter-beale-reunion-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/06\/eastenders-airs-surprise-return-for-lauren-branning-amid-peter-beale-reunion.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/06\/eastenders-airs-surprise-return-for-lauren-branning-amid-peter-beale-reunion.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/06\/eastenders-airs-surprise-return-for-lauren-branning-amid-peter-beale-reunion.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/06\/eastenders-airs-surprise-return-for-lauren-branning-amid-peter-beale-reunion.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Actress Jacqueline Jossa reprised her role as Lauren Branning for the special extended episode of the BBC One soap.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/34147"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""Jacqueline\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/06\/EastEnders-Lauren-Branning-2023-92bb4b9.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"EastEnders\\"\/")
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