In an episode of the BBC soap that aired on Monday September 4th, characters Lily Slater (Lillia Turner) and Ricky Mitchell (Frankie Day) welcome their first child, a girl they have decided to name Charli.

After the birth of baby Charli, maternal Grandmother Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) asks the name of the child, and immediately presumes the name Charli has been chosen in honour of her late Uncle Charlie. She is soon corrected as she is told she had in fact been named after Cambridge born pop star Charli XCX.

The clip from the long running soap immediately went viral, even catching the attention of the 31 year-old singer herself. The day after the Eastenders episode aired, Charli XCX, who has a large following among the LGBTQIA+ community, re-shared the clip on Twitter with the caption “shout out my gays in the writers room!”.

shout out my gays in the writers room! https://t.co/ghOer7fI9K

— Charli (@charli_xcx) September 5, 2023

In response to the singer’s shout out, Eastenders story producer Kyri Zindilis replied to her tweet saying “It’s a pleasure Miss XCX”

It’s a pleasure Miss XCX… #EastEndershttps://t.co/MxXrC3j0uf

— Kyri Zindilis (@KyriZindilis) September 5, 2023

Since she came on the scene in 2010, Charli XCX has released 5 studio albums, featuring smash hit singles such as “Boys” and “Boom Clap”. More recently, the pop star has released the single “Speed Drive”, which featured on the soundtrack for Greta Gerwig’s 2023 blockbuster hit Barbie.

In addition to her successful music career, Charli XCX announced earlier this year that she will be embarking on an acting career as she is set to feature in a remake of the 1978 horror film Faces Of Death. She has previously done some voice work for the animated films The Angry Birds Movie and UglyDolls. 

Both Eastenders and Charli XCX fans were beyond excited by the writer’s decision for Lily Slater’s baby name, and filled the internet with comments and praise over the soap opera/music worlds uniting. One entertained fa commented “This is the most British crossover ever”

This is the most British crossover ever

— esra (@1989healy) September 5, 2023

Moreover, musician and Silver and Gold podcast host Ras Ali tweeted “This is so iconic!!!!!!”

this is so so iconic!!!!!!

— ras ali (@rasalistair) September 5, 2023

Eastenders airs every Monday-Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One.