Is Keanu Taylor the dead body in EastEnders at Christmas?? All the clues and theories

Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) hasn't exactly been making friends since his shock return to Walford last year, and it's only natural that we suspect the victim to be someone who's up to no good.

So read on as we delve into all the clues that might see Keanu meet his maker come Christmas Day...

Is Keanu Taylor the dead body in EastEnders at Christmas?? All the clues and theories

Keanu staged the kidnapping of Albie

Arguably the relationship on the biggest rollercoaster this year has been 'Sheanu', with Sharon and Keanu initially denying their passion, getting together, getting engaged, and splitting after Sharon helped Lisa Fowler (Lucy Benjamin) leave the country with Keanu's daughter Peggy, before they eventually reconciled.

However, the pair's romantic reunion and subsequent engagement see them both hiding secrets, but Keanu's is criminal.

Keanu staged the kidnapping of his 'son' Albie Watts to stop him and his mum from moving to Abu Dhabi, even letting Sharon think he had been taken by sick and twisted criminals.

In reality, Keanu and Karen had hidden Albie at the house of her sister Kandice, with Phil giving Sharon the steep ransom money that in reality had been demanded by Keanu for Albie's safe return.

Eventually, Sharon had Albie back and reunited with Keanu, but remained unaware of the truth.

However, Phil soon discovered the Taylors in possession of his money and confronted them - but Keanu let his mother Karen take the whole blame, feigning ignorance, and driving her to flee the Square.

With this horrific secret hidden from Sharon, will the truth out on their wedding day and drive Sharon to murder?

The tagline was, after all: "Men - may they get what they deserve!"

Karen Taylor's exit

Keanu also committed a cardinal soap sin - he mistreated his mother!

Karen Taylor departed Walford with partner Mitch Baker, her grandchildren Mia and Mackenzie, and Mitch's daughter Bailey, taking the ransom money for Albie from Phil with them.

This occurred after Keanu scapegoated his mother for his unhinged staged kidnapping and let her take the fall for him.

With sister Bernie aware of his betrayal, will this come back to haunt Keanu and could be another reason why his fate is sealed?

Albie's real father

Sharon is also hiding a secret of her own from Keanu following Albie's kidnapping - he is not Albie's father, instead, it is her ex-husband and his former love rival, Phil Mitchell.

Keanu has put aside his family, morals, and previous good character in a bid to secure a future with Sharon and Albie at any cost.

If Keanu learns that Albie is not his child and that Sharon has lied all this time, could Keanu's temper explode and lead him to lash out at Sharon, prompting her or one of The Six into action?

This is a timebomb waiting to explode.

Killer threat from Phil Mitchell

Keanu spilt Phil's cheating secret to Alfie Moon (Shane Richie). But with Alfie distracted by his cancer diagnosis, he agrees to keep quiet so long as Phil protects his new wife Kat (Jessie Wallace) and the sons she shares with Alfie. But Phil later threatened to kill Keanu if he told Kat.

Now, just because there's a group of female characters, dubbed 'The Six', stood over the dead body in the flashforward scene, that doesn't mean one of them is the killer. Perhaps by Christmas, Kat has learned about Phil's infidelity, leading Phil to hunt Keanu down and end his life out of revenge.

Leaning into this theory, Keanu is then found by Sharon, explaining our early thoughts that she is connected to the murdered soul.

Clashes with Dean Wicks and Nish Panesar

Recent weeks have seen Keanu clash with two other top suspects for the body: Dean Wicks and Nish Panesar.

Dean has publicly made digs about Keanu and his family, while Keanu has publicly called out Dean's rape of Linda - exposing his sick behaviour to his dying daughter, Jade Masood.

Meanwhile, Nish's humiliation of Bernie in the Queen Vic saw Keanu's temper flare up, highlighting past issues when Keanu was involved in the Panesar family's criminal enterprises.

With this in mind, if Keanu does turn out to be the body on the floor, could either Dean or Nish be framed for his murder?

HOWEVER

On-set images published by The Sun from on-location filming at a church with Danny Walters and co-star Jacqueline Jossa and then of Walters alone at an airport, seem to show Keanu alive and well after Christmas, perhaps depicting him fleeing the country.

However, given that EastEnders has utilised on-set images as red herrings before, could this be an elaborate ruse?

Well, either way, we cannot see Keanu staying in Walford for much longer...

Read more:

• Who do you think dies and kills in the EastEnders Christmas special?
• EastEnders spoilers: Whitney Dean heartache in tragic fostering story
• EastEnders must give tragic heroine Whitney the happy ever after she deserves
• EastEnders boss Chris Clenshaw previews Christmas 2023 and The Six aftermath
• EastEnders' Letitia Dean on whether Sharon can forgive Keanu for kidnap secret
• EastEnders' Gillian Taylforth on Kathy and Rocky: "She can’t live with the constant lies"
• EastEnders' Diane Parish teases "heartbreak" in Christmas episode
• EastEnders' Lacey Turner on whether Stacey will kill again: "She will do whatever it takes to protect Eve"
• EastEnders' Balvinder Sopal: "People will be on the edge of their seats"
• EastEnders' Kellie Bright: "The body wasn't who I thought it would be"

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.

Visit our dedicated EastEnders page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.

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