Stage favourite's return (4)
I believe the answer is:
step
'stage' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'favourite's return' is the wordplay.
'favourite's' becomes 'pets' ('pet' can be a synonym of 'favourite').
'return' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'pets' reversed gives 'STEP'.
(Other definitions for step that I've seen before include "one stage of flight" , "Set foot down on pest" , "short distance" , "Put foot on a pest" , "Second half of quick 20?" .)