EastEnders legend Joel Beckett has hinted at a permanent return to the popular BBC show after it was confirmed that his character Jake was alive after 18 years.

Jake Moon had attempted to flee the country with Chrissie Watts after she went on the run for the murder of Den Watts.

However, the pair were stopped at Stansted Airport, seeing Chrissie locked up. Nothing was known about Jake's fate... until now.

Earlier in the week, Chrissie was released on parole and fans were stunned to find that Jake had waited for her all these years, giving her a tour of Albert Square.

EastEnders legend Joel Beckett hints at a full return to the show after 18 years

Discussing the possibility of a full return to EastEnders, the BBC star teased: "Never say never."

He added: "I’m sure the audience will let me know if they’d like to see me again!"

When asked how the cameo came about, the actor told the Metro newspaper: "My agent got a phone call asking would I be interested in going back? The second sentence followed “just for a day”. Your mind starts to go through things, especially from a technical point of view, you think “what can they possibly film in a day?”

"I assumed that it would be something to do with Chrissie, but I thought it would be me standing outside the prison gates. I didn’t expect to go back on the Square. So I thought a day going back there after such a long hiatus would be great. It was a lovely day out, as I kept saying when I was on set.

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"It felt lovely to be back. Although it was a new set it felt really familiar, and it felt like I’d never been away. You never forget Albert Square."

Highlighting the differences on set, he said: "Everything wasn’t as wobbly!"

He added: "The Square was just a bit sharper, and it felt as though it had been upgraded although the sun sets in a different place. It’s quite amazing to go back there and to be on a different set in a different spot, yet everything felt exactly the same."