EastEnders actor Shane Richie has revealed the iconic Kat and Alfie romance almost never happened.

The soap star, 58, has played cheeky chap Alfie Moon on and off since 2002 and it was confirmed last month that he would be returning to the beloved role.

The last time viewers saw Alfie, he had been revealed as the father of Kat's cousin Hayley Slater's baby after they had a brief affair.

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Despite Alfie trying his best to win Kat back, she couldn't move on and he eventually ended up on the bad side of Phil Mitchell after stealing money from him, forcing a speedy exit from Albert Square.

Alfie's return coincides with Kat's upcoming nuptials to Phil, leaving fans to wonder whether there is any hope for a reunion between the iconic duo.

Kat and Alfie's tumultuous relationship has spanned nearly two decades and they cemented themselves as one of the most iconic pairings a long time ago.

But in an exclusive chat with Daily Star and other publications, Shane revealed that producers had a different vision for how Alife's love life would pan out.

He said: "When I turned up 20 years ago, they were going to recreate 'The Graduate' story with Alfie and Peggy."

The former I'm A Celebrity star added: "And then off-camera, me and Jessie [Wallace] were having a right laugh and the writers saw this chemistry, and so that relationship purely happened by accident.

"And now 20 years later after all the things that have happened between Kat and Alfie, there's still a spark there."

Speaking about his return as the iconic character, Shane admitted that he was on tour when he got the call from EastEnders' executive producer Chris Clenshaw who explained he wanted to bring "the old Alfie" back.

"Chris called me and he sold it to me," adding: "He said 'We want the old Alfie' because over the years there's been all very different Alfie's and my favourite is from 2002 to 2005 and that's the Alfie we got back."

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One

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