Fans were overjoyed to learn that Ryan Malloy would be making a return to EastEnders amid 12-year-old Lily’s (Lillia Turner) pregnancy storyline. As he comes face to face with Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) once more, actor Neil McDermott reveals whether or not there is a future for the pair.
Ryan was last seen on the Square in 2016, when he stole money from the safe of the Queen Vic before trying to make a run for it. He was caught, but ended up being released due to lack of evidence.
Instead of sticking around, he chose to start a new life elsewhere, leaving Walford behind.
However, having caught wind from sister Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) that his daughter is pregnant, he has made a swift return, determined to support her through it.
Stacey is shocked to see him, having not planned to tell him anything until she was ready.
Lily has been raised by Stacey and Martin Fowler (James Bye) for most of her life, so having Ryan back on the scene is somewhat of a challenge, as co-parenting is not something Stacey and Ryan have done well up until now, according to Neil.
But with Ryan determined to be there for Lily, will Stacey be forced to let him take a more hands on approach in raising their daughter? And does that mean he’ll be sticking around?
‘Who knows what the future holds for Ryan, and for Stacey too. We’ll have to see if there’s ever a prolonged period where they can be on the Square at the same time and to try and make that work’, Neil said.
‘As I understand it, Ryan does want to be a good dad to Lily and he feels like Stacey has asked him to stay away and that’s why he’s not there at the moment. He’s respected her decision but with the news of Lily’s pregnancy, he feels he needs to come back and try to see how he can be part of her life more.’
It’s not just Ryan and Stacey that are getting used to being around each other again, as Neil explained that a lot of his time on set was spent catching up with co-star Lacey Turner.
‘We were too busy nattering away to be honest and just catching up [to do any preparation for the scenes]! We would run lines together and things like that’, he explained.
‘I’ve been away for a long time so just tried to get back into the rhythm of EastEnders. The way we work here is quite quick, so Lacey was helpful to me as she was happy to run through lines and stuff.
‘Even just catching up and being back on set together again helped it feel more familiar, because we haven’t properly seen each other in a while.’
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