Alice Haig has opened up about Sharon Watts’ absence from EastEnders as her character Vicki Fowler faces wedding drama with Zack Hudson
An EastEnders star has acknowledged Sharon Watts’ absence from the BBC soap.
Last year, Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig) returned to Walford following the death of her uncle, Martin Fowler (James Bye), and briefly reunited with her adoptive sister Sharon (Letitia Dean).
However, Vicki’s stint on the Square has been anything but plain sailing as she parted ways with her fiancé Ross Marshall (Alex Walkinshaw) after his son, Joel (Max Murray), savagely assaulted her.
Before they patched things up, Vicki had a brief fling with Zack Hudson (James Farrar), who happens to be Sharon’s biological half-brother, and they’ve attempted to maintain their distance ever since. Ross subsequently proposed to Vicki, and she accepted.
The nuptial preparations are now officially in motion with their hen and stag parties scheduled for next week. Yet it seems Sharon remains absent from her sister’s festivities, reports OK!.
In upcoming scenes, Ross receives updates about Joel, which drives Vicki back into Zack’s embrace, potentially revealing their secret liaison.
With Sharon’s brother and adoptive sister attempting to conceal their encounter, Vicki actress Alice has discussed her character’s hidden affair.
She explained: “Leading up to their hen and stag do’s, Ross has heard that Joel is going to be sentenced soon. The news immediately triggers Vicki, who starts worrying about what this will mean for her, particularly the matter of where Joel will live when he eventually gets out.
“Ross and Vicki then quickly realise they’re not on the same page and head off to their parties feeling incredibly conflicted.”
She continued: “It’s so messy with Zack – there’s the whole Sharon factor, and everything about them being together just feels a bit wrong. On top of that, he’s got quite a shady track record with women, and not just one or two, it’s multiple.
“But the most important thing is Ross. Vicki adores him, she loves the bones of him. Even at their lowest ebb, she never truly doubts that she loves Ross.”
Vicki’s week takes a turn for the worse when she receives a blackmail text featuring a photo of her and Zack kissing.
Will Sharon Watts return to Walford to address the clandestine romance between her brother and sister?
Where is Sharon Watts in EastEnders
The queen of Walford hasn’t been seen since October 2025, just weeks after she made a dramatic comeback to Walford, bringing her face-to-face with Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan).
This was a confrontation twenty years in the making, with Sharon still grappling with her father Den Watts’ (Leslie Grantham) death, which she partially blamed on Zoe.
In a desperate attempt to locate her long-lost son, Zoe lied about Sharon’s ex-husband, Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman), who died in 2005, asserting he was the boy’s father, hoping Sharon would fund a private investigator to find him.
After the initial shock of such allegations sank in, Sharon set her feud with Zoe to one side and chose to assist, resolute in her mission to locate Dennis’ son, who would’ve also been the biological brother of her deceased son Denny (Bleu Landau).
Sharon subsequently uncovered that Zoe had concocted the entire tale about Dennis being her missing son’s father, and as a result, Sharon and her son Albie departed for America to stay with Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully) and have yet to return to the screen.
The character remains enormously beloved by the programme’s viewers, who have been questioning the whereabouts of the Walford legend.
Taking to X, one individual recently posted: “Sharon, because #EastEnders just isn’t the same without Letitia Dean.”
Another declared: “Thinking about when Sharon would have a disaster every Easter… when is she back on screen, may I ask #EastEnders.”
A third added: “Where is Sharon Watts? May I ask, bringing back everyone under the sun, yet forgotten about this current diva #eastenders.”
