Cindy Beale
| Cindy Beale | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| EastEnders character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Michelle Collins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1988–1990, 1992–1998, 2023–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 340 10 May 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by |
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| Spin-off appearances | The Ghosts of Ian Beale (2014) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cindy Beale (also Williams and Branning) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, portrayed by Michelle Collins. She first appeared 10 May 1988 and originally departed on 27 December 1990, before returning for a second stint from 13 October 1992 until her exit on 10 April 1998. The character supposedly died off-screen on 5 November 1998. However, in 2023 the character was "resurrected" with Collins returning after 25 years on 21 June 2023 ahead of a permanent return on 22 August.
During her first stint on the show, Cindy embarked on a prolonged relationship with her would-be husband Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt). Their marriage soon deteriorated, however, due to Cindy's selfish streak that shows the character becoming unfaithful to Ian and growing more concerned about her own needs than their own children.
It is later revealed that Cindy never died but was placed under a witness protection programme after informing on her cellmate. She had relocated to Spain under the assumed name of Rose Sawyer, then married George Knight (Colin Salmon) and gave birth to two more daughters, Gina (Francesca Henry) and Anna Knight (Molly Rainford), before disappearing from their lives without explanation after inadvertently compromising the witness protection programme. The decision to reintroduce Cindy was praised by fans and critics alike.
Since her return, her storylines have included: bonding with her children; feuding with Ian's mother Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth); confronting Bobby Beale (Clay Milner Russell) over Lucy Beale's (Hetti Bywater) murder, which he was responsible for; setting up "Beale's Eels" with Ian and Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo); attempting to reconcile with George, having an affair with George's son Junior Knight (Micah Balfour) after George rejects her; threatening George's brother Kojo Asare (Dayo Koleosho) and Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) when they nearly expose the affair; being left unconscious by Kathy on Christmas Day 2024 when Lauren exposes the affair, a storyline which tied into the show's 40th anniversary when she caused an explosion by attempting to murder Ian by shooting and pushing him in front of a car driven by Reiss Colwell (Jonny Freeman) causing him to crash into the Queen Vic, which in turn killed Reiss and Martin Fowler (James Bye); discovering Kathy's affair with Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman) and using it to blackmail her into selling her the Prince Albert bar; being attacked by Jasmine Fisher (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness); and a relationship with Lauren's father, Max Branning (Jake Wood). In September 2026, Cindy marries Max, unaware that he has been having an affair with Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy).