Hold on to your hats: Bar brawl breaks out as Kat Slater returns to EastEnders

Kat Slater sparked a bar brawl after she walked in on a benefit for her own funeral as the soap character returned to EastEnders.

The beloved character, played by Jessie Wallace, made her highly-anticipated return over two episodes on Thursday.

She was last seen in Albert Square in January 2016 ahead of appearing in spin-off series Redwater.

Her relatives Jean and Mo Slater (Gillian Wright and Laila Morse) have already returned to the soap, with Mo claiming that Kat is dead.

Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) was in the middle of raising a glass to Kat as her old neighbours raised money for her funeral when she made her dramatic return to the Old Vic pub.

Toasting their friend, the group said: “Kat Slater, may you rest in peace.” But she then walked through the door, prompting Mick to spit out his drink.

Surveying the scene, dressed in a leopard print fur coat, Kat laughed and said “Blimey has someone died?” before adding: “As you can probably see, I’m not dead.”

It had previously emerged Mo had lied about Kat’s death to raise money to pay off her debts.

During a confrontation about her deceit, Mo faked a heart attack before a fight broke out in the pub, after Kat called Karen Taylor (Lorraine Stanley) “Waynetta”.

As chaos continued, with a bar stool flying through a window, Kat left with Mo and Stacey Fowler (Lacey Turner), as Stacey said: “I had forgotten what a proper Slater night out was like.”

Laughing, Kat replied: “Hold on to your hats, because I’ve got a feeling we might be having a few more.”

It was also revealed that Kat was having a break from her husband Alfie (Shane Richie), who she said was in Spain with the children.

In the previous episode, Kat emerged from a black taxi wheeling a leopard print suitcase and wearing a thick coat of her famous red lip gloss.

Finding a poster on the ground for a benefit night in her memory at the Queen Vic pub with the words “RIP Kat” on it, she expressed her shock saying: “What the…?”

Wallace, 46, has played the role of the loudmouth, leopard print-wearing Kat on and off since 2000.

Fans expressed their jubilation at her return, with one writing on Twitter: “This is the best it’s been in years!”

Another wrote: “First episode in a long while that #eastenders has felt like the old times!! Best thing they could do was bring back the slaters! If it carries on this the other soaps don’t stand a chance.”

EastEnders continues on Monday on BBC One at 8pm.