Zoe Slater is currently in prison over the murder of Anthony Trueman on the BBC soap

EastEnders star Michelle Ryan has confirmed Zoe Slater’s future after telling fans ‘don’t get too close’ in a cryptic social media post.

The actress returned to the BBC soap last year for the first time in 20 years. Making a brief return in Executive Producer Ben Wadey’s first episode as EastEnders boss in June, Zoe was back full-time in September.

It was a turbulent few months for Zoe in Walford, with her revealed to have had a pair of twins in 2006. Believing her daughter passed away, Zoe was on the hunt to find her long-lost son.

However, this coincided with her being targeted by a stalker for months on end. On top of this, her former fiancé Anthony Trueman was becoming increasingly obsessed with her, even having lots of pictures of her on her laptop.

On Christmas Day, Zoe learned that Anthony knew he was the twins’ father and lied to her by saying they were nowhere to be found. Once Zoe discovered the truth, she pushed Anthony into a wall, who responded by knocking her out.

When she awoke, Zoe was stunned to learn that Anthony was lying dead beside her. To make matters worse, her former nemesis Chrissie Watts appeared and revealed that Jasmine was her daughter and she carried out the malicious acts against her as a revenge for ‘Dirty’ Den Watts death.

Sharing a heart to heart with Jasimine, Zoe decided to hand herself into the police and take responsibility for Anthony’s murder. However, both she and her mum Kat Slater are adamant that Chrissie may be responsible in spite of Zoe being charged.

With Zoe yet to be seen since Boxing Day (December 26), Michelle took to Instagram to share a video of her burning a number of EastEnders scripts in a bin.

She captioned the post: “Something cathartic about clearing out old paperwork, no need to hang on to early drafts of scripts that no longer serve the story, nor notebooks that hold a worn out narrative. Just don’t get too close to the flames.”

Since Zoe was arrested, many fans have feared that Michelle EastEnders comeback could come to an end before she even gets to meet her son. However, hours after burning her scripts, Michelle shared an image of her and Kat actress Jessie Wallace to assure fans she’s not going anywhere.

She captioned her post: “Back to work today. Wishing everyone a good week back.”

The comments section of Michelle’s post saw a number of her followers wishing her well and having their say about what they want to see from Zoe moving forward.

@natasharose1990 said: “This makes me happy knowing you stay.” @lindaleona1998 added: “Love your character on the show. Happy New Year.”

@kaceyrayhauerking wrote: “Thank goodness I was thinking we had to get signs saying Free Zoe possibly a go fund me.” @mikepjones8334 noted: “I am just watching Eastenders now. Don’t worry Zoe Inspector Jean Slater is on the case.”

@bipolarcapricorn commented: “Great news, more zoe slater on our screens! Exciting.” @rachaelmccormack81 posted: “Ah delighted it’s great to have you back @michelleryan008.”