EastEnders' Kat and Alfie reunion faces one big problem, says Shane Richie
The BBC soap star hinted at the fan favourite characters reconciling, but said they would be dealing with the after effects of Alfie's prostate cancer.
What did you miss?
Shane Richie has given EastEnders fans hope that a Kat and Alfie reunion will happen, but warned that their rekindled romance was set to be affected by erectile dysfunction problems.
The BBC soap star plays Alfie Moon whose long-running on-off relationship with Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) is a favourite with viewers, who saw the former couple kiss in Tuesday's episode. But they will have to face the ongoing effects from Alfie's prostate cancer recovery as they try to get back on track.
Richie also told This Morning that his character had originally been brought in for a Graduate-style age gap romance storyline with Peggy Mitchell, played by the late Dame Barbara Windsor.
What, how, and why?
Kat Slater and Alfie Moon's will-they-won't-they romance is always a popular storyline with EastEnders fans, and Shane Richie has now all but confirmed that a reunion is back on - but the couple are set to face health issues.
Richie, who plays Alfie, spoke to This Morning about his character sharing a kiss with Kat in Tuesday's episode and said that they would have to deal with the after effects of his prostate cancer.
Asked whether Kat and Alfie were back on, the actor said: "You have to watch tonight. Tonight is the big reveal, and as you know Alfie's going through his post prostate cancer, so we do deal with, I think we can say erectile dysfunction."
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Richie joined the BBC soap as Alfie in 2002 and during that time his character has married Kat and later split from her, been through a baby swap storyline with her, had an affair with her sister, featured in Kat and Alfie spin-off series Redwater, and had various moments where it looked like a reunion with Kat might be on the cards.
In 2023, viewers saw Alfie discover he had prostate cancer, something that continues to affect the character in his recovery, and Richie said it would change things for his relationship with Kat.
He said: "As much fun as it is, Kat and Alfie maybe getting back together, we do the repercussions of having prostate cancer and how it affects your libido. We play that."
Talking about the storyline's impact, he added: "I had to go and see my GP and he doesn't really watch the show but he said, 'I understand your character has done a story with prostate cancer'. I said, 'why's that' and he said, 'because we've had an influx of gentlemen coming in to get checked because of what you did on the show'. If we save one person's life, we've done great."
Alfie Moon and Peggy Mitchell were set for surprise romance
Richie also shared the surprising reason his character was originally introduced to Albert Square - as part of an age gap romance with Queen Vic landlady Peggy Mitchell, played by the late Dame Barbara Windsor.
He said: "When I went in in 2002, the original plan was that Alfie and Peggy, obviously played by Barbara Windsor, they were going to recreate The Graduate story. That was the story we spoke about and then something happened with myself and Jessie, they saw a chemistry on screen."
"Kat and Alfie was a real slow burner for about a year and then they eventually got together," he continued. "It was strange times, going out on the street and people were just losing it. Everyone bought into it.
"Back in the day you had the Mitchells, there was a lot of alpha males. I think when Alfie came in, the guy who created the Moons was a big fan of Only Fools and Horses. He wanted to create that with the Moons, so you had Alfie, Nana and Spencer."
This Morning airs on ITV1 at 10am on weekdays.
