EastEnders legend Gillian Taylforth has hinted at some secret relatives for her character Kathy Beale as she revealed that she would like to see her own family members return to the Square.
Gillian is one of the soap's original cast members, appearing in the first-ever episode in 1985. During her early years in Walford, Kathy's blood relatives, the Hill family, were introduced in 1995.
Her older brother Ted Hills (Brian Croucher) and his children Tony (Mark Homer) and Sarah (Daniela Denby-Ashe) arrived in the Square, before Ted left two years later in 1997 after being offered a job in Dubai.
However, his children remained in Walford until 1999 after being involved in a number of dramatic storylines.
Kathy left the Square to live with Ted in South Africa in 1998, but neither Ted or his children have made a comeback to Walford, even when Kathy was forced to fake her own death after marrying evil Gavin Sullivan (Paul Nicholas) in South Africa.
Talking to What To Watch and other press, Gillian revealed that she would like Kathy's relatives to return to the soap after two decades.
She said: "Ted, yeah. That would be nice. Because that's why I went over to South Africa to see Ted. So yeah, that would be nice if the Hills came in, you know."
Gillian also teased at the possibility of more relatives unexpectedly coming out of the woodwork that she doesn't know about.
"And who knows? Who knows if there are any other relatives out there? Yeah, that would be lovely. I hadn't thought about that for a long time," she said.
Although the Hills may not be returning to Walford anytime soon, Kathy's son Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) is set to make his comeback to the Square with his ex-wife Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins).
Also joining them is Kathy's grandson Peter Beale (Thomas Law) who left Kathy high and dry after draining all the money from her bank account when he left the Square last year.
EastEnders airs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7.30 pm on BBC One — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on episodes on BBC iPlayer now.
