Remember when the Taylor family first arrived in Walford back in the summer? They were loud, brash and it didn’t look like they were going to be very popular.
Family matriarch, Karen, in particular rubbed viewers up the wrong way with her bra-straps hanging down her arms and general bad stereotyping of single mums.
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But during last night’s episode, where Karen had a heart to heart with Billy Mitchell about his injured daughter, fans took to social media to praise the character. Yep, praise her.
During their deep and meaningful convo, she offered to let William and Janet spend time with the Taylor’s dog, Bronson after Billy discovered what Janet really wanted for her birthday.
He said: “It turns out she’s been wanting a dog for years. How can I not know that, hey? I’ve been too wrapped up in myself to bother to ask her.”
Karen quickly told Billy that he hadn’t done anything wrong and Janet wouldn’t hold it against him.
She said: “So she wants a dog. Next week she’ll want a cat. What she won’t want is you giving yourself grief because you feel like you need to make it up to her.
“So she got hurt. Things happen. You know that it’s going to take more than a stray motor to knock that little girl off her perch because she’s a fighter.
“You’ve been fighting for her everyday of her life like we all do for our kids.”
She later told Bernadette that Bronson would be spending some time with the Mitchell kids. Bernie pointed out that Keegan would be gutted and Karen told her: “He’ll understand. There’s a sick girl who needs some extra cuddles ain’t there.”
Fans took to social media to gush over Karen’s kindness.
One viewer tweeted: “Karen has become a really decent character #EastEnders”
While another added: “I actually love Karen in this. She’s not the same Karen from back in June!! #EastEnders.”
A third said: “Karen can be a bit of a mouthy one sometimes but she does have such a soft side. #EastEnders”
And a fourth wrote: “Karen finds a positive in every situation we need more of her #EastEnders.”
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Karen, played by Lorraine Stanley, also stepped up to warn creepy stalker, Tom, off of Michelle in Thursday night’s episode and fans previously praised her for the way she handled Bernadette’s miscarriage earlier this year.
The character is set to take centre-stage over the next few weeks as her financial woes increase.