EastEnders' Stacey Fowler wants a divorce, but when is she back in Walford?

As if he didn't have enough problems, Martin's misery continued on Friday 17th January when he received the upsetting paperwork and realised there may be no way back for him and Stace.

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Mr Fowler lied to his wife back in the autumn he had slept with ex-spouse Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) believing it was the only way to keep her away from Walford, and secretly protect her from Ben Mitchell's threats of shopping her to the police for her attack on his dad Phil Mitchell - the original reason she fled the Square in August 2019.

Stacey bought it and declared they were over, but since then self-loathing Martin has gone into a downward spiral of crime as Ben's lackey, which drew him into debt collecting and would-be killer of Keanu Taylor.

Ironically, since lying to Stacey he cheated Martin has done just that - twice - first with his wife's BFF Ruby Allen, then with Sonia herself who provided a shoulder to cry on when he confessed to her he'd fled from the scene of a hit and run that almost killed a man.

Turner has not left EastEnders permanently, as most people know she is on maternity leave - she gave birth to her first daughter, Dusty Violet, in July 2019 with husband Matt Kay.

Shortly after giving birth she filmed the dramatic scenes with Bye in which Martin made Stacey believe he had slept with Sonia, aired as her most recent on-screen appearance in October.

In November, Stacey sent new boyfriend Jerome to the Slater house to collect her belongings, making Martin aware in no uncertain terms she had moved on.

With so much drama built around Turner's absence, there's much anticipation around Stacey's return. Although there is no official date, this is expected to be around summer 2020. Louisa Lytton, aka Ruby, has teased what's in store for her on-screen pal's comeback, saying last autumn: “Things are going to get very juicy for Ruby and Stacey, but I can’t say anything else!”

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