AS one of the Square’s longest-standing resident, Phil Mitchell has been accustomed to bumping into familiar faces.
This summer, the EastEnders tough man played by Steve McFadden will be confronted with one of his former lovers.
Phil is one of Walford’s longest-standing residents
He’s due to be married with Kat Slater
Sharon Watts previously tried to sabotage his wedding
Phil Mitchell put his wedding plans with Kat Slater on hold in September, 2022, after his former wife Sharon Watts tried to ruin the ceremony to get him back.
But when Lisa Fowler, the mother of his daughter Louise Mitchell, will be reappearing in Walford, Phil can rest assured – she won’t be trying to reach out to him any time soon.
Speaking to HOAR and other press, actress Lucy Benjamin explained that her on-screen alter ego continues to live in fear of Phil Mitchell.
“She’ll always feel a bit of fear about what he was capable of, in terms of her mental health and how he has the knack of getting to her. I think she’s always very mindful of that.”
Lisa Fowler was last seen fleeing the Square to go to Portugal with Louise and her granddaughter Peggy Taylor.
However, she’ll be making her way back to the fictional borough of Walford with a plan in mind, determined to stay out of Phil’s way.
“She’s definitely learned to be a lot stronger with him now and she she’s got this bravado I think when it comes to Phil, but I think it wouldn’t take much for her for him to make her crumble”, Lucy shared.
“Really because he knows her very well. You know, so inside out, and that’s always a bit of a worrying thing for her.”
Unfortunately, word eventually gets to Phil that Lisa is back in Walford with a young Peggy Taylor in tow and the former lovers soon face one another.
“She doesn’t manage it very well. I mean, it comes unravelling quite quickly”, Lucy teased.
“She’d rather he doesn’t know anything about her because of the power that he has over her.”
But should she be worried about Kat Slater (played by Jessie Wallace) taking action for her other half?
“She’s not worried about Kat and Phil being together. I think she thinks ‘good luck to her’, really.”
“And she’d rather he’s with her than with Lisa to be honest.”
Phil won’t be a part of Lisa’s plans upon her return to Walford as she’ll be more focused on getting revenge on Keanu Taylor after his poor treatment of both Louise and young Peggy, his own daughter.
“I really think that Lisa is relieved that she’s not with Phil and if she had her way, she’d wish he wasn’t the grandfather of Peggy and the father of Louise.”
Lucy makes her fourth return to the BBC One soap this summer, which allowed her to share the spotlight with Steve McFadden once again.
However, with the line-up often subjected to many changes, Lucy has also had the chance to exchange with Kat Slater actress Jessie Wallace for the first time.
“Lisa certainly doesn’t come back as the doormat everyone thinks she was so it was fabulous during those scenes with Steve and with with Jess”, Lucy explained.
“I loved it because I’ve never actually got to work with Jessie before when I’ve been there. We were both just saying how lovely it was we’d actually got some scenes together because after all these years, we hadn’t worked together properly before.”
One newcomer also left their mark as Lucy was introduced to them for the first time amid her brand new storyline.
Reiss Colwell actor Jonny Freeman was pointed out by Lucy as one of the soap starts she was thrilled to be working with.
“He’s a relatively new character and he’s very funny and I actually love being on the set with with both him and (Sonia Fowler actress) Natalie Cassidy because I think the chemistry between Reiss and Sonia is brilliant.”
“So if Lisa came back, I’d love for her to kind of move in with them and work more with them as a couple. I think that’d be great. I think he’s a real talent.”
EastEnders airs from Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One.
Lisa Fowler is due for another comeback this summer
Lucy Benjamin explained her character will vainly try to stay out of Phil’s way
