Brace yourself Walford, because Kat is coming home!
Yes, one of the most iconic ‘EastEnders’ characters of all time is back on the Square on Thursday (22 March), as Jessie Wallace reprises her role as the incomparable Slater.
It’s fair to say Albert Square hasn’t quite been the same since we last saw Kat three years ago, as during her previous two stints on the soap, Kat had her fair share of drama.
To celebrate her return, we’re looking back at those highs and lows as we prepare for her to create a whole lot more...
LOW: Kat reveals she’s Zoe’s mother
In one of the most quotable ‘EastEnders’ scenes ever, Kat revealed to her sister Zoe that she was actually her ‘muvva’.
And while you may have thought this would have brought mother and daughter closer together, it didn’t. A distraught Zoe fled Walford and Kat attempted suicide.
HIGH: Alfie crashes Kat’s wedding
While viewers had everything crossed that Kat and Alfie’s will-they-won’t-they relationship would bear fruit, a spanner was thrown in the works by gangster Andy Hunter, who wooed Kat and ended up proposing to her.
Luckily, Alfie wasn’t about to let her go without a fight and crashed the wedding, with the pair running off into the sunset (well, back to the Square).
HIGH: Kat marries Alfie in The Vic
While the pair’s relationship wasn’t without its ups and downs, Kat and Alfie tied the knot in their beloved Queen Vic on Christmas Day 2003 (although they nearly didn’t, thanks to the small matter of Alfie not being divorced from his previous marriage).
LOW: Kat sleeps with Andy
Kat and Alfie’s marital bliss was short-lived when they encountered money troubles, and Alfie went begging to Andy for dosh.
Unable to pay the debt back, the gangster threatened to kill Kat unless she agreed to sleep with him, which she hesitantly did. Unbeknown to her, Andy filmed the encounter and sent it to Alfie, who was left heartbroken.
LOW: Kat is sent to prison
After leaving the Square for several months following the Andy debacle, Big Mo discovered Kat had spent time in prison for being a sex worker.
If that wasn’t bad enough, when she returned home, Kat found out Alfie was now in a relationship with her sister, Little Mo.
HIGH: Kat and Alfie leave Walford for America
The death of Nana Moon left Alfie destroyed, but who was there to comfort him? Yep, you guessed it - Kat.
It led to a reconciliation for the pair, who left Albert Square to travel the US together on Christmas Day 2005. Many thought it was the last we’d see of the iconic characters, but...
HIGH: Kat and Alfie become landlord and landlady of The Vic
Five years later, the couple were back on the Square (with Kat pregnant with Alfie’s cousin’s child). And with The Vic now without a landlady after the departure of Peggy Mitchell, bosses installed them back behind the bar - but this time with their names above the door.
LOW: Kat and Alfie lose baby Tommy
In one of EastEnders’ most controversial storylines ever, Kat and Alfie were led to believe they had lost their baby son Tommy to cot death. Little did they know, Ronnie Mitchell had stolen their baby and swapped him with her deceased son James, passing the couple’s son off as her own.
HIGH: Kat and Alfie realise their son isn’t dead
Following a record-breaking number of complaints to Ofcom, soap bosses cut short the baby-swap plot, and reunited Kat and Alfie with their son Tommy, after a guilt-ridden Ronnie eventually confessed to her crimes.
LOW: Kat’s affair with Derek
With Kat and Alfie now on an even keel, producers couldn’t help but split them up again, when it was revealed Kat was having an affair with a mystery man.
In an unlikely twist (and one that didn’t exactly go down well with viewers), the fella in question turned out to be Derek Branning, and Alfie duly threw Kat out of the pub.
LOW: Alfie gets together with Roxy
A heartbroken Kat could only watch on as romance blossomed between Alfie and his best mate Roxy Mitchell, and while it was just as hard for the rest of us to see Alfie with another woman, the new relationship led to plenty of comedic moments between the two love rivals.
HIGH: Kat and Alfie reunite
In scenes reminiscent of her wedding to Andy, Kat crashed Alfie’s nuptials, but stopped short of declaring her love for him as he said “I do”. But his and Roxy’s marriage didn’t last long when he realised Kat was the woman he really wanted to be with, and went on a mission to stop her leaving the country.
LOW: Kat and Alfie are forced out of The Vic
After Phil sold The Vic to the Carters as punishment for Alfie’s treatment of Roxy, the newly-reunited couple found themselves without a home or with jobs, and were forced to move back in with Big Mo.
LOW: Kat is burned in a house fire
With money woes plaguing the couple yet again, Alfie came up with plan to set their house on fire in order to claim insurance. Little did he know, Kat was home at the time, and after being rescued from the blaze, she was left with facial scars.
It took Alfie a while to confess he was the reason behind his wife’s injuries, and when he did, Kat declared their marriage was over for good.
HIGH: Kat and Alfie win the lottery
Having reunited after Kat made peace with her troubled past, she and Alfie became millionaires when they won £1million on a scratchcard, and left Walford for a new life in Spain.
HIGH: Kat finds out she has a secret son
After a drama-filled Christmas trip to Walford, which saw her father Charlie die and cousin Stacey battling postpartum psychosis, Kat learned of a secret son she’d given birth to a son while delivering her daughter Zoe as a teenager.
LOW: The events of ‘Redwater’
You’d be forgiven for not watching ‘EastEnders’ spin-off ‘Redwater’ (it was cancelled after one series due to poor reviews and poor ratings), but true to form, it was no easy ride for Kat, who found out her secret son was a murderous psychopath, who also attempted to kill her.
HIGH: Kat returns to Albert Square
While viewers last saw her looking like she’d drowned at the hands of her son on ‘Redwater’, there had been no reference to the events back home in Walford. Nearly a year later, Big Mo returned with the news Kat had mysteriously died, but she is set to surprise the residents of Albert Square by turning up at her own wake. Talk about making an entrance.
Catch up on all the latest soap news and spoilers here.