A Teen Couple in EastEnders Named Their New Baby After Charli XCX

BBC/Shutterstock

The now-viral clip from the British soap opera even caught the attention of Charli herself!

Bernardo Sim

Deputy Editor

Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out. He's also a staff contributor to The Advocate, PRIDE, and other equalpride publications. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida.

You can follow Bernardo Sim on Instagram. Otherwise, you can find him on Bluesky, Threads, X/Twitter, and TikTok.

Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out. He's also a staff contributor to The Advocate, PRIDE, and other equalpride publications. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida.

You can follow Bernardo Sim on Instagram. Otherwise, you can find him on Bluesky, Threads, X/Twitter, and TikTok.

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Bernardo Sim

September 06 2023 11:48 AM EST

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A new level of gay references has been unlocked in the British soap opera EastEnders.

In a recent episode, Lily Slater (played by Lillia Turner) and Ricky Jr (played by Frankie Day) are seen taking care of their first child. Stacey Slater (played by Lacey Turner) then asks the couple what they’ve named their daughter.

“Charli,” Ricky Jr responds. Stacey asks if they’ve given their daughter that name to honor their Uncle Charlie.

“No,” Ricky Jr then quips. “After Charli XCX.”

This EastEnders scene went viral on social media and prompted Charli XCX herself to respond.

“Shout out [to] my gays in the writers’ room!” the popstar wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

— (@)

This hilarious scene is indeed very soapy, but a Charli XCX reference was not in our 2023 bingo card for the series.

On social media, EastEnders fans are joking that Ricky Jr must’ve been at least a little bit queer to go along with naming his daughter Charli XCX. With so many plot twists in a soap opera, who knows? Maybe that’s the next frontier for the writers to explore.

Congratulations to Charli XCX for now being a canon character in the EastEnders universe!