HOTTES NEWS TODAY!!! One of EastEnders' most controversial characters ever is returning

A controversial EastEnders villain who murdered three Albert Square residents is returning to the BBC One soap.

Gray Atkins, played by Toby-Alexander Smith, arrived in Walford in 2019 with his partner Chantelle Atkins (Jessica Plummer) and their two children. Gray was a hugely successful solicitor and enjoyed the fact he had a lot of money to throw around.

As respected as he was by other people, Gray hid a dark secret behind closed doors. It was revealed in a powerful moment that he was physically and mentally abusing his wife Chantelle.

In 2020, Chantelle had plotted to leave Gray, but sadly died when she was pushed onto an open dishwasher by him. She was fatally impaled on a knife.

Gray standing in the club looking evil in EastEnders — Gray was introduced in 2019 (Picture: BBC)

After Gray covered up Chantelle’s death, the BBC One soap aired a storyline that saw him spiral into becoming a serial killer. Three months after killing his wife, Gray murdered Tina Carter (Luisa Bradshaw-White), who had worked out that he had been abusing Chantelle.

He then murdered Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami) by pushing him in front of an approaching Underground train. Gray ended Kush’s life because he was incredibly jealous that he was moving away with previous love interest Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty).

Gray is thought of as a controversial EastEnders villain due to the fact he eventually became a crazed murderer. Prior to killing Tina and Kush, Gray was part of one of the soap’s most powerful domestic abuse plots, and many felt that the shift into a serial killer narrative diluted the significance of Chantelle’s story.

The character departed the show in 2022 after finally getting arrested for his crimes. Even though Gray is in the middle of a very long prison sentence, his upcoming return is set to cause some serious drama.