Kyle’s mum pays a visit to the Square

Actress and presenter Denise Welch (Waterloo Road, Boy Meets Girl) is set to guest star in EastEnders later this Spring, the BBC has confirmed.

Denise will play the role of Alison Slater, the mother of Kyle (Riley Carter Millington) – Stacey’s transgender half-brother who arrived in Walford in 2015. Riley is the first transgender actor to play a transgender character in a continuing role in a UK soap.

Alison’s arrival is set to cause a stir when it’s revealed she’s struggled to accept her son’s choice to transition. How will Alison react to seeing her son as Kyle for the first time and will Stacey (Lacey Turner) be able to look past the bigamous marriage Alison had with her and Kyle’s dad Brian?

On joining in the show, Denise Welch commented: “I’m so thrilled to be part of such an iconic show, it’s so exciting! I have several friends on the show and it’s a great crowd so I can’t wait to get started. It’s a short stint but such a powerful role and I’m thrilled to be taking this on.”