Claudette Hubbard is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Ellen Thomas.

[1] During her time on the show, Claudette's storylines included being accused of an affair with Les Coker, before it was ultimately revealed she was aiding his cross-dressing, her history with the Mitchell family, a feud with Babe Smith (Annette Badland) and being left for dead and buried alive by her son Vincent after revealing she was responsible for the death of her husband.

In September 2016, it was confirmed that Thomas would depart her role as Claudette and would leave the soap after being axed by the newly-appointed executive producer Sean O'Connor.

Digital Spy wrote that they would miss "her boobs, blackmail and barmy antics" and Thomas herself stated that she would expect Claudette to return in the future.

[4][1] The role of Claudette marks Thomas' fourth time on EastEnders, she previously appeared as Pearl Chadwick in 1990, Estella Hulton in 2002 and Grace Olubunmi between 2010 and 2011.

"[1] David Brown from the Radio Times added that Claudette had links to established regular characters and would be "a tough-talking resident of Albert Square".

[9] Later that night, while he and his wife, Pam Coker (Lin Blakley), are celebrating their wedding anniversary, Les gets a text from Claudette, thanking him for her necklace.

She starts working in the Albert and meets Phil's aunt, Sal (Anna Karen), who is visiting the Mitchells.

"[19] It is revealed that Claudette's husband, Henry, was an associate of Den Watts (Leslie Grantham), Ted Hills (Brian Croucher), Gavin Sullivan (Paul Nicholas) and Eric Mitchell (George Russo), Phil's father.

[24][25] Claudette and Patrick flirt with each other and eventually begin dating; however it is hampered by Denise Fox's (Diane Parish) disapproval.

[32] However, unknown to Vincent and Patrick, Claudette escapes from the basement in a "shock twist" and is brought into the hospital by paramedics after she was found by the side of a road.

At the time, Sean O'Connor had been newly-appointed as EastEnders' executive producer, and as part of his changes, he axed a number of characters alongside Claudette.

However, Thomas tweeted that viewers should be patient, adding that "revenge is a dish best served cold", hinting that Claudette's return would be imminent.

Claudette later learns that Babe Smith (Annette Badland) has been blackmailing them over Les' cross-dressing, to which Digital Spy commented that "the gloves are off".

[41] When Babe is locked in the Queen Victoria public house's freezer store, Linda accuses Claudette, as well as Vincent, Donna and Patrick being suspicious.

[42] Claudette exposes Babe's blackmail to Linda and her husband Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) and it transpires that the real culprit is Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald).

[43] She later briefly reconciles with Patrick but her jealousy over his closeness with Dot Branning (June Brown) causes him to publicly break up with her.

[49] Thomas said that she expected the character to return in the future, echoing producers' claims that [the door had been left open".

Thomas added that [Claudette] would be coming back and if [the producers'] weren't interested [in her returning], they'd have killed the character off.

[52] Laura-Jane Tyler from Inside Soap admitted to being a little scared by "steely" Claudette and said she made Vincent "look like a pussycat.

[54] Richard Blackwood, who played Claudette's on-screen son Vincent, described the character as a "bit of a gangster" and teased that viewers would see her "darker side".

[2] They also wrote that they would miss her feuds with Babe and Kim, her friendship with Les, her family establishments and the ability to bring new characters into the series.