Last night’s episode of EastEnders saw Vicki Fowler return to Walford – sans the distinctive American accent which made her last stint on the soap so memorable.

Vicki Fowler smiling on EastEnders (Credit: BBC/Composite: ED!)

Vicki arrived just in time to see Phil haranguing his ex on the street, having learned that she’d recently slept with his brother. Stepping out of a black cab, Vicki immediately leapt to her sister’s defence, with a war cry of ‘Oi! Leave my sister alone!’

‘I’m her family,’ Vicki exclaimed, before sharing a warm smile with her sister. A touching reunion, but fans were more distracted by Vicki’s accent… or rather, the lack of it.

Vicki looks angry as she confronts Phil and Sharon on EastEnders
Vicki returned with a very East End ‘oi’ for Phil (Credit: BBC/Composite: ED!)
EastEnders fans confused as Vicki Fowler’s ‘missing’ the American accent

Reacting to Vicki’s return on EastEnders, fans took to social media to share their bafflement at Vicki’s so-called disappearing American accent.

“Vicki lost her American accent quite quickly,” pointed out one fan on X.

“Vicki’s got an English accent??” asked another.

“Has Vicki lost her American accent?” a third said.

“I thought Vicki Fowler was American?” asked a fourth.

Vicki’s strong London accent is surprising, given her last stint in London lasted barely a year, but many seem to be misremembering how prolific Vicki’s American accent actually was.

Vicki talking to Spencer in EastEnders
Actress Scarlett Alice Johnson played the role with an American accent, for a while (Credit: BBC/YouTube)
A complete history of Vicki’s ‘American’ accent

Moving with mum Michelle to America as a child, young Vicki developed an American accent after being raised in The States. And, when she returned to Walford in 2003, teenage Vicki did so with the local drawl.

However, what many forget is that Vicki actually lost the accent after around six months. During this time, she developed a more neutral British way of speaking.

Original Vicki Fowler actress Scarlett Alice Johnson explained: “The producers knew that I had to have an American accent when I came into the show because my character had been living in America. But it’s not the kind of accent that you’d want to have for a long time on a show like EastEnders. It’s not something that’s going to fit in for a long period of time.”

By the time she left in 2004, Vicki had lost the accent. And, between her return to America and settling down in Australia with Spencer, it never returned.