Here's everything you need to know about the character who could be making a "sensational" comeback…
Who is Ben Mitchell in EastEnders?
Ben Mitchell is the son of Phil Mitchell and his ex-wife Kathy Beale.
He is the half-brother of Ian Beale and Louise Mitchell.
He’s also cousin to Ian’s kids Bobby and Peter Beale. And was Lucy’s cousin before she was murdered by Bobby.
Ben is best friends with Jay Brown – played by Jamie Borthwick – and considers him to be a brother after Jay was adopted by the Mitchell clan following the death of his dad.
He’s the dad of Lexi Pearce, daughter of his distant cousin Lola Pearce – the pair had a one-night-stand which resulted in Lola’s pregnancy.
Ben came out as gay in 2011 after sleeping with Lola which was an experiment to test his sexuality.
Phil wasn’t happy with his son coming out and they fell out over it.
Ben even pretended to be straight, getting into a relationship with Abi Branning to prove himself to his dad.
Ben had an affair with Paul Coker while he was with Abi and eventually,unable to hide his true feelings and after Abi tricked Ben into believing she was pregnant with his child, made his relationship with Paul official.
Ben and Paul planned to take over Coker’s Funeral Directors together and had a night out to celebrate.
Tragically Paul was murdered in a homophobic attack, leaving Ben distraught.
He also had a relationship with Luke Browning, unaware that he was actually the son of his mother’s rapist James Willmott-Brown and it was all part of an elaborate revenge plot.
Ben was last seen on January 12 2018 when he fled to France with the money from Aidan Maguire’s botched heist job.
He was intercepted by Mel Owen when he discovered that he had a holdall of newspaper instead of cash. Ben went to France anyway.
Will Ben be returning to EastEnders and will Harry Reid still play him?
Jamie Borthwick, who plays Jay, has admitted that he would love Harry Reid's character Ben to return to the BBC One soap – adding that the cliffhanger that the character left on means that he "has to" come back.
Speaking to Digital Spy , the actor explained: "Of course I would like to see Ben back.
"Ben left in a way that was kind of unexplained. "I suppose he's got to come back at some point, whether it's now or whether it's in two years or three years.
"But of course I'd love to have him back."
Harry recently starred in the West End play of Agatha Christie's Witness For The Prosecution at the London County Hall, and is due to appear in a Canterbury pantomime in December 2018.
Jamie and Harry have remained close friends since Harry left EastEnders – with Jamie supporting his former co-star's career.
He shared: "Harry has been very busy doing his play, which is fantastic.
"I've already seen it twice and I'm going to see it once more before he finishes next month."
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