Jacqueline Jossa is cutting short her maternity leave to make a surprise return to ‘EastEnders’.
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The new mum will make her way back to Walford as Lauren Branning to film a handful of new scenes, as her on-screen dad, Max (Jake Wood), goes on trial for the murder of her best mate Lucy Beale.
Jacqueline Jossa as EastEnders' Lauren Branning
Lauren left the Square in February with boyfriend Peter Beale (Ben Hardy), as the pair moved to New Zealand when the Beales discovered it was Lucy’s 12-year-old brother Bobby who killed her.
A source told The Sun: “Max’s trial will be a very exciting storyline and Lauren’s return will be explosive because she knows Max didn’t kill Lucy.
“She agreed not to unmask Bobby as the killer but surely that won’t be at the expense of her own father...”
Jacqueline has already filmed the scenes as ‘EastEnders’ base in Elstree, Hertfordshire, and will return to the soap full-time in the New Year.
She gave birth to her first child, a daughter called Ella, in February and her partner, former ‘TOWIE’ star Dan Osborne, proposed to her in June.
Last month, Dan posted snaps of himself with Ella and his son Teddy on the ‘EastEnders’ set, but the Instagram posts were quickly removed, presumably in a bid to keep Jacqueline’s return under wraps.
In February, she admitted she wasn’t planning a speedy return to work, telling OK! Magazine: "I haven’t really thought about it, I can’t really imagine working at the moment. But I love my job, so I’m lucky."
‘EastEnders’ is set to air the scenes in the autumn.