There was a huge clue to Cindy Beale's grisly EastEnders attack on Christmas Day right in plain sight.

Weeks before Cindy was attacked onscreen, which was kept a secret until transmission, a promo image gave it away. Eagle-eyed fans may have spotted a miniature metal shovel in a group image of Cindy and the people who would turn out to be her suspects.

Viewers will have seen on Christmas Day Cindy and the Beales joining the Knights for Christmas dinner. Later in the evening, Cindy's affair with Junior Knight was finally exposed by Lauren Branning, leading to a chaotic showdown.

Cindy had multiple enemies, and by the end of the episode she was lifeless on the floor. She'd been struck over the head with a giant metal shovel, and left for dead.

Several residents bought one of the snow shovels from Mo Harris in the lead-up to the big episode, while one in particular had been left outside The Queen Vic. Now that the scenes have aired, the promo image actually teased some big scenes.

In said image, the Beales and the Knights are sat at the dinner table with Cindy at the top of it. Everyone is looking at each other suspiciously, while there was also something very familiar placed at the bottom of it.
There was a huge clue to Cindy Beale's grisly EastEnders attack on Christmas Day right in plain sight (
Image:
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)

The people at the table happened to be the suspects, with Cindy, the victim, stood watching them all. Not only that, but the familiar item on the table was a miniature shovel, a small version of the attack weapon.

So there were clues to the big whodunnit and Cindy's ordeal all along, weeks before it aired onscreen. It comes amid one cast member appearing to hint at Cindy's fate ahead of the soap revealing whether or not she will die.

Ian Beale actor Adam Woodyatt remarked that the soap "couldn't have Ian without Cindy", and shared his hopes that things would be resolved after Cindy's affair. Adam spilled: "Ian and Cindy are one of those love stories that will hopefully keep going. Hopefully, there’s a resolution to it and they find their way through it.

"I don’t think you can have Ian without Cindy, it’s Ian and Cindy. A bit like George and Mildred which funnily enough was our code names when we were coming back. Except when we cast George Knight and we had to change it to Richard and Judy." So does this mean Cindy will survive?

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.* Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .