EastEnders' Julie Bates' history with Nigel and 1997 exit explained

EastEnders fans were left gobsmacked by a shock cameo as the voice of Julie Bates, portrayed by Karen Henthorn, was heard on the BBC soap for the first time in nearly three decades this Monday (January 6).

The audio appearance came after Nigel Bates, played by soap legend Paul Bradley, rocked up on Christmas Eve and reunited with long-time pal Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) and explained that he had split from his wife Julie.

But it turned out Nigel was lying as he got text messages from Julie full of desperate pleas for him to come back home. In recent scenes, Nigel has been acting shifty as he dodges Julie's calls and refuses to speak to her, but hasn't yet explained why.

The mystery continued on Monday (January 6) when Nigel's phone rang and interrupted his conversation with Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick). Moments later, Nigel played the voice message as he was overwhelmed with emotion.

Julie, played once more by actress Karen, begged: "Nigel, it's Julie again. I don't know if you got my last message or...

"Listen, Nigel, I promise I'm not cross, whatever reason you walked out and disappeared, I just really need to know if you're alright mate."

Julie Haye first arrived in Walford in September 1997 and is the mum of Josh Saunders, played by S Club 7 star Jon Lee.

She was the teacher of Nigel's step-daughter Clare Bates (Gemma Bissix) and the pair eventually became friends.

Their relationship blossomed and in April 1996, Julie and Nigel moved to Scotland to begin their new life together as a family. But not Nigel has returned to Walford and is remaining tight lipped about his marriage.

Karen Henthorn, 62, originally played the role of Julie Bates before returning for her cameo on Monday. The actress was born in Oldham,