In between wandering the streets rattling a box of cat biscuits shouting out for her beloved kitty ‘Mini Mo’, EastEnders’ Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) has been on a mission to track down her missing son since returning to Walford last year.

And next week, she gets one step closer to meeting him when Josh (Joshua Vaughan) arrives on Albert Square – and passion with a local resident soon follows.

As fans of the BBC soap know, upon Zoe’s return to EastEnders, it was revealed that in her 20-year hiatus, she’d given birth to twins back in 2006.

A flashback sequence revealed she believed the baby girl had died during childbirth, and subsequently abandoned her baby son.

However, it was later confirmed that her daughter actually survived, and her identity was revealed as Jasmine Fisher (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness).

While Jasmine and Zoe shared the briefest of reunions at Christmas, Jasmine is now in prison after confessing to the murder of her birth father Anthony Trueman (Nicholas Bailey) – a crime for which Zoe was initially banged up for.

Prior to her arrest, Jasmine was revealed to be in contact with Josh, and he will finally make his debut on screen next week.

It all begins after Josh’s adoptive mother Sandra (Dawn Steele) turns up in Walford asking questions about Jasmine, which unnerves Denise and Kim Fox (Diane Parish and Tameka Empson), who are worried about how Jasmine’s grandfather Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker) is dealing with Anthony’s death.

When Sandra reveals her true identity to the pair, they listen as she shares more about her backstory with Josh and Jasmine. But just as she is ready to leave Walford, they are all stunned to discover that Josh has arrived in Walford looking for Sandra.

He joins Kim, Denise and his adoptive mum at The Albert for a drink as he desperately seeks answers as to what happened to his sister.

Denise soon puts her foot in it by mentioning Zoe, and an upset Josh leaves, insisting he doesn’t want anything to do with his biological mum.

Upon hearing from Kim and Denise that his grandson has made contact, Patrick is devastated to have lost another connection to his late son, so they encourage him to write a letter to Josh.

Denise and Kim later head back to Sandra’s to deliver it, which prompts Josh to return to Walford and tell them he’d like to meet the Trueman family next week.

However, he’s distracted when none other than Jasmine’s ex-boyfriend Oscar Branning (Pierre Counihan-Moullier) catches his eye.

It was previously reported that Josh’s arrival will kick off a steamy new love triangle involving Oscar and Josh’s biological sister Jasmine, with the siblings left fighting for the baby Branning’s affections.

Oscar is going to find himself torn between Jasmine and Josh

It was announced that soap newcomer Joshua Vaughan had been cast as Josh earlier this month, with the actor saying in a statement: ‘It has been incredibly humbling to join the cast of EastEnders and find myself at the intersection of the iconic Trueman and Slater families.

‘Getting to work alongside such legacy actors is a masterclass, and I’ve learned so much from them. Josh is a big ball of love and I’m so excited for the audience to see the drama unfold as he arrives onto the Square.’

He will be joined on screen by former Holby City star Dawn Steele, who plays his adoptive mum Sandra.

Teasing their arrival, EastEnders boss Ben Wadey said: ‘As always with the Slaters and Truemans, nothing is ever straightforward, and the arrival of Sandra and Josh promises even more drama for Walford at a pivotal moment as Jasmine’s trial begins.’