The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 2016, by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by the show's executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins, or his successor Sean O'Connor. In January, Kyle Slater's close friend (Poppy Rush) and Stacey Branning's (Lacey Turner) psychiatric nurse were both introduced. Joel Reynolds' brother , Jay Brown's (Jamie Borthwick) love interest (Amy-Leigh Hickman), Linzi's mother (Lorraine Stanley), Jordan Johnson's son and Claudette Hubbard's (Ellen Thomas) foster son (Leon Lopez) all made their first appearances in February. March saw Linford's friend, , arrive. Kyle's mother, , played by Denise Welch, Shakil Kazemi, the son of Carmel Kazemi (Bonnie Langford) and brother of Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami), and Belinda Peacock's (Carli Norris) husband all made their first appearances in May, while Paul Coker's estranged mother arrived in July along with , one of Paul's killers. August saw the arrival of Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) and Michelle Fowler's son . The rest of Paul's and (Gwyneth Strong) arrived in September, Lee Carter's (Danny-Boy Hatchard) friend, (Sam Gittins) arrived in October and Lee's colleague arrived in November. However, Shakil and Andy were the only new regular characters to be introduced in 2016; both have since departed the serial.