Linda Henry was once tipped to return to Walford but less than two years 

after her EastEnders exit, the actress has turned her life upside down and fans know they’ve seen the last of her.

The actress, 64, was last seen in Albert Square as Shirley Carter in December 2022, following the disappearance of her son Mick Carter, who vanished at sea. 

Devastated, Shirley left the borough to reconnect with her estranged children, Carly and Dean Wicks. 

But in a recent twist, the latter is in need of support as he faces a tense murder trial for the death of Keanu Taylor.

Earlier this week, the villain played by Matt Di Angelo worked out a plan 

with Keanu’s sister Bernie (Clair Norris) to get Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) to spill the beans on the hunk’s murder, completely unaware she stabbed him to death.

But as the storyline could lead to a shocking confession from Linda, viewers of the London-based programme have wondered why Shirley Carter is nowhere to be found, particularly as her son desperately tries to get released from prison ahead of his trial for murder.

Soap fans took to Reddit to share their thoughts on Shirley’s absence, with one of them writing: “I want her to come back for at least one more stint so she can get a proper exit.” Unfortunately, the wish may never be granted as another viewer pointed out: “Pretty sure Linda moved abroad.”

This left another fan to clarify: actress Linda Henry has allegedly moved abroad to Greece, worlds away from the drama-packed Square. More soap fans expressed their confusion, certain that Linda was tipped for another appearance in the long-running show months ago.

“I genuinely don’t understand what happened. They announced her departure as a ‘break’ but it’s almost been 2 years now. Why didn’t they just announce it as her exit? It would have been a pretty fitting exit for the character”, one of them notably wrote.

The questions eventually led another handful of fans to speculate that Linda Henry’s return to the show could still be on the cards as Dean’s ordeal is far from over. One viewer suggested that Shirley could return to the Square “After Dean is found guilty or dies; the most we might get is the same as Nick Berry gave us at Pat’s funeral”, while another theorised Linda could reprise her role just in time for Dean’s funeral or the show’s 40th anniversary.

“People have said here before she moved to Greece. If that’s the case then I can’t see her ever coming back permanently as that would require moving back to make it possible. Not like Greece is particularly close to the UK. She might come back for a few episodes sometime in the future”, one fan then argued.

Viewers previously theorised that Denise Fox (Diane Parish) could bring Shirley back to Walford as Dean was alleged to have sectioned his mother off-screen, but the rumour of Linda’s big move to Greece away from the limelight has put a damper on their hopes for several months.

Although her move to Greece has not been confirmed, Linda has been married to Greek husband Stavros Virilis since 1992, making the change likely. The couple share a daughter named Ellie, born a year after their nuptials.

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Source: New York Post