EastEnders serial killer Gray seen again as soap airs sickening twist

EastEnders serial killer Gray Atkins has been seen in the soap again. Ahead of his return in the upcoming weeks, Gray, played by Toby-Alexander Smith, was spotted in a picture that his grandmother Sheila, kept in her purse, as it became clear that she was manipulating Chelsea in a sick twist.

In Thursday’s episode (18 June), Gray’s ex wife Chelsea Fox met up with his grandmother to see if she was still in contact with the imprisoned killer.

Chelsea has been struggling with money since her son Jordan was hit by a car and met up with Sheila, who had previously sent her a cheque for £1000, to see if she was still in contact with Gray. If she was, Chelsea wanted nothing to do with her. If she wasn’t, Sheila might have been just the lifeline Chelsea needed to afford Jordan’s long term care.

Whilst together, Sheila assured Chelsea that she was not in contact with Gray, saying she hadn’t seen him since before his arrest for multiple murders. Her only motive in sending money to Chelsea was so that she could be involved in her great-grandson’s life.

But at the end of the episode, it was revealed that this wasn’t the truth. When Chelsea had finally agreed that Sheila could be involved in Jordan’s life, she gave the older woman a photo of him, who waited until her former granddaughter-in-law had left before tucking it into her purse – right next to a picture of Gray. This is the first time Gray’s face has been seen on the show since 2022.

Sheila smiled evilly to herself as she caressed Gray’s face. As such, fans are sure that she is manipulating Chelsea and will use her position to get Gray into Jordan’s life.

Fans were sickened by the twist. One asked: “Couldn’t Sheila just be a good person with good intentions for once?” Another said in response: “I actually felt a bit sick seeing that smile at the end. It must be hard to stop loving your grandson, but to manipulate Chelsea when he was that evil towards her is too much.”

A third added: “She might as well have cackled at the end.” While a fourth said they ‘felt so bad for Chelsea”. Some said they hoped that Sheila’s feelings about Gray were simply “complicated” and that she would not end up helping him out.

“I feel like the Shelia and Gray photo is a red herring,” said one viewer. “I feel like it’s more she has kinda complicated feelings towards him and still visits him but doesn’t agree or support what he has done.”

But this was not the prevailing view. As summarised by one viewer: “I don’t blame Chelsea for wanting the support, but I didn’t quite buy Sheila’s kind act and the end kind of proved it. Won’t be completely out of the question that she’s visited Gray in prison and she’s probably the only person in touch with him save for any unnamed siblings or other relatives. With Gray’s brief return on the cards I predict we’ll see Sheila meeting him in prison to discuss some hidden agenda.”

Actor Toby-Alexander Smith previously told Mirror about his return and what he felt about it. Of his first run as Gray, he said: “Gray was pretty heavy the first time around. Obviously, we dealt with the domestic abuse storyline and then there was some more sort of heightened curveballs and more deaths, which was very heavy too, but a gift for an actor. I felt very challenged doing that.”

He added: “Gray was a brilliant character. It was a gift to play Gray and it’ll be fascinating to know what four years in prison would do for someone like him. His identity was very much, you know, control and power and very manipulative. Being in prison would very much strip a lot of that identity. So it was fascinating to tap into that psychology.”