After over a year of flitting between London and Florida, the iconic Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) settles back into Albert Square life once again next week. The EastEnders drama didn’t halt in her absence, so she has an awful lot of catching up to do.
Ex-hubby Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) is stunned when she drops a bombshell on him, and the shock arrival forces Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) to confront some unresolved tension.
Meanwhile, Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig) and husband Ross Marshall (Alex Walkinshaw) also stage comebacks, returning from their honeymoon to a horrible surprise. His abusive son Joel (Max Murray) has been released from prison after serving less than half of his sentence, and has brought mum Cleo to Walford.
Plus, Ian Beale’s (Adam Woodyatt) future is in jeopardy, and Denise Fox (Diane Parish) receives an update from the hospital concerning her chemotherapy.
Here’s everything happening in EastEnders in week commencing 13 July.
7 EastEnders spoilers for next week
1. Ian Beale decides on his plea
Ian receives some bad news from Mr Get-out (Adam Brooke Leese) – he reckons he should plead guilty at the forthcoming plea hearing. Peter and Lauren Beale (Thomas Law and Jacqueline Jossa) urge him to listen to the advice, but Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) disagrees and thinks her son has nothing to take responsibility for.
Seeking further support, Ian heads to Peacock Palace and hopes that Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) can help. He then heads to speak to Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams), hoping she’ll change her statement, but Denise orders him out of the house.
Feeling like he’s reached the end of the road, a heartbroken Ian tells his family of his decision. Kathy tries to remain positive, while Phil wades in on the predicament.
2. Sharon Watts returns to Walford and wars with Zoe Slater
Having returned to Walford, Sharon drops a huge bombshell on Phil – she’s going to sell her share of The Boxing Den. Luckily for her, there’s a buyer already on the horizon in the shape of Max Branning (Jake Wood).
Sharon wastes no time in settling some old scores with Zoe, too. She’s still not happy about her lying about Jasmine Fisher (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness) and Josh Goodwin’s (Joshua Vaughan) paternity last year, and bursts into The Vic to confront her.
The twins rush to their mum’s defence, and when Zoe attempts an apology towards Sharon and Zack Hudson (James Farrar), it becomes clear that they’re not in a forgiving mood.
3. Denise Fox receives bad news about her cancer treatment
The Fox-Truemans are thrilled to learn that Denise can come home, unaware that she’s harbouring some bad news from the hospital. She hasn’t responded to the treatment as well as expected, and will need to try again.
Deciding not to trouble her family with the outcome, Denise makes an attempt to settle back into family life. However, upon a return to the wards, the discovery that her friend has passed away puts things into perspective.
Upon her return to the Square, she spots grandson Jordan Fox (Jahsaiah Williams) in the gardens with Sheila Atkins (Sheila Ruskin), and Libby Fox (Belinda Owusu) is forced to come clean about her identity. She’s understandably furious, and tells Chelsea that she wants a private face-to-face meeting with Sheila.
When alone, she questions killer Gray’s (Toby-Alexander Smith) grandmother on her motives.
Later in the week, Denise finally comes clean to Jack about her chemotherapy not working, but forbids him from telling the rest of the family so that they can put effort into a leaving party for Libby.
4. Max Branning can’t resist Priya Nandra-Hart’s advances
Despite her repeated warnings that she’ll expose the affair, and the fact that they’ve almost been caught, Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy) continues to play dirty and tries to seduce Max.
Unsurprisingly, it works. Before the end of the week, the two find themselves in bed together again.
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5. Joel Marshall returns – with mum Cleo in tow
Sharon is thrilled when Vicki and Ross return from their honeymoon, but there’s still a lot of unresolved awkwardness with Zack.
Vicki asks her aunty Kath for advice, but ultimately comes to the decision that they must move out of No. 43. Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) and Mo Harris (Laila Morse) offer them a room across the road, though when Zack clocks Ross’s upset, he decides to move out instead.
Just as things start to calm down, a cab rolls into Albert Square containing Joel… and his mum Cleo.
She quickly explains to Vicki, Ross and Sharon that she doesn’t want Joel to live with her. Vicki is mortified and rushes off to the caff to offload her worries.
When word reaches Avani and Amy about his return, they rush over to Vicki and lash out.
6. Lauren and Mark
Mark Fowler (Stephen Aaron-Sipple) and Lauren agree to a deal on their illegal car sales, and he agrees to dodge Ian’s family barbecue so that they’re not mixing business with family. However, he struggles to keep out of her away and turns up unexpectedly.
Later in the week, Lauren panics when she receives a call from Mark, explaining that their deal has gone wrong. She rushes over to meet him, and is infuriated to see that he was lying and just raised the alarm to test her loyalty.
7. Gina and Harry
Penny Branning’s (Kitty Castledine) getting ready to move into her new shop unit on the Turpin Road Plaza, and has asked Harry Mitchell (Elijah Holloway) and Gina Knight (Francesca Henry) to help her.
They run into a bit of a predicament when the stock they were responsible for goes missing. Will they find it?
Read more:
- EastEnders to feature popular Strictly Come Dancing star in upcoming Walford Pride storyline
- EastEnders legend teases “dangerous” dynamic between Max Branning and Cindy Beale
- EastEnders boss teases “emotional” Denise Fox scenes from blood cancer storyline after 20 years on the show
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