EastEnders appears to have killed off one of its characters following a confrontation at the Queen Vic pub during the soap's two-part Christmas special.
Warning: spoiler alert!
The events of Christmas day are starting to unfold, and Kat is crumbling.#EastEnders, tonight at 9:30pm on @BBCOne and on @BBCiPlayer pic.twitter.com/3letyiwVFi
— BBC EastEnders (@bbceastenders) December 26, 2025
Anthony Trueman, played by Nicholas Bailey, was declared dead by Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) after she discovered his body at the top of the stairs of The Queen Vic pub, near to her daughter Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan), who had passed out next to Anthony after being thrown against a bannister.
The cause of his death remains unclear.
"He's dead." Watch the whole episode now on @bbciplayer. #EastEnders pic.twitter.com/JPBYTEQ2KW
— BBC EastEnders (@bbceastenders) December 25, 2025
The characters had earlier tussled after Zoe became angry at Anthony, who had lied to Kat about Zoe's two long-lost children being dead.
Finding Zoe on the landing, Kat woke Zoe up and said: "Zoe, Zoe, wake up... what have you done? Look at me, what have you done? Zoe, he's dead."
Anthony had lied to Kat, as he was angry after discovering he was the father of the twins Zoe gave birth to and abandoned in the hospital in 2006, after believing her daughter to be dead.
Zoe had also been angry at Anthony, as she wrongly believed him to be the person who had been making sinister threats towards her.
Having found Anthony's body, Kat reacted by switching off the electricity in the pub and forcing Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) to tell the punters to leave.
Soon after, Zoe went downstairs, as she could hear music playing from the pub, believing it to be the son she had abandoned years ago and had recently attempted to meet.
Instead, she found Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman), and it was revealed that she has been the mastermind behind Zoe's torment.
Back to the scene of the crime. #EastEnders pic.twitter.com/WTEJ5Go9Cu
— BBC EastEnders (@bbceastenders) December 25, 2025
Kat asked Chrissie how long she had been in the pub, presumably to figure out if she could have killed Anthony, to which Chrissie said: "Just got here, why?"
Chrissie's plan has involved teaming up with Zoe's daughter, Jasmine, and turning her against her mother as revenge for Zoe's involvement in the death of Den Watts, whom Chrissie had actually murdered.
Jasmine entered the pub and shouted at Zoe: "You couldn't be bothered to stick around the hospital long enough to hear me cry. Maybe I should be flattered, because at least you didn't just abandon me like you did my brother."
The storyline is reminiscent of Zoe's most iconic scene, when she screamed at Kat, whom she believed to be her sister: "You ain't my mother!", to which Kat yelled back: "Yes, I am!"
If Zoe didn't do this, who did? #EastEnders pic.twitter.com/8cSyie8HYG
— BBC EastEnders (@bbceastenders) December 25, 2025
At the end of the second episode, the emergency services arrived at the scene, and Zoe was seen walking over to a police officer and saying: "It's me you want."
The drama continues on St Stephen's Day on RTÉ2 and BBC One at 9:30pm.
Click here for more on the soaps.
Catch up on EastEnders on the RTÉ Player.
Source: Press Association
