It's been a busy week down Walford way what with Danny Dyer joining the cast of EastEnders as the new landlord of the Queen Vic, but Shane Richie says his arrival paves the way for a 'massive' Alfie Moon storyline. Go figure.

Richie, whose character currently lives in the pub with Peroxide Mitchell, told Bella magazine that things were about to get very interesting for Alfie, who has had his fair share of ups and downs over the years."The storyline that we are about to film is massive, it's a big story for my character, which I am really looking forward to" he revealed, hinting that it may involve a bit of Kat and Alfie drama.

"I hope Kat and Alfie reunite. It is something that may happen very soon but I couldn't possibly say", he teased. You'll have to forgive our cynicism when it comes to this one. Those EastEnders writers have a habit of pulling pretty disastrous Kat and Alfie storylines out of the bag when they're in need of a ratings boost. We're guessing his will be another temporary reunion for the pair before Kat decides she'd rather a bit of Danny Dyer's new cheeky chappie.

It doesn't look as though Shane will be willing to surrender his spot on the soap for Mr Dyer though. He says he won't be following in the footsteps of quite a few of the cast (there's bit a bit of an exodus over the past 12 months) and is staying put in Walford for the foreseeable future.

"I will stay as long as they want me there and as long as they keep coming up with great stories" he said. "I've got a wife and children to look after and I pay my older kids' phone bills even though one of them has just toured with Justin Bieber."

Nice bit of name dropping there Shane. Maybe you can get Biebs in for a guest slot to bump up the ratings so?