It’s the romantic plot twist that none of us saw coming but in last week’s EastEnders episodes, we saw how warring councillors Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) and Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) took their tension to a literal new level.
While previous episodes have seen the pair take on all kinds of sneaky tactics in order to win the election, when Ian was finally handed the win, it was far from a celebratory tone for him as his sense of pride was tarnished.
In a surprise turn of events, Ian and Elaine shared a kiss, with Ian first initiating it and then Elaine reciprocating in scenes that certainly came as a shock to many fans. Ian ran out quickly afterwards, with us all left on tenterhooks as to whether this now means that romance is on the cards for these two.
Well, in upcoming scenes, we’ll see how things start to unfold – but it doesn’t look like any budding feelings are the focus as Bea’s (Ronni Ancona) antics only throw a spanner in the works.
In spoilers for next week’s episodes, Bea is set to hover anxiously around Ian on his first day as councillor and although his mind may be preoccupied with his new position and his kiss with Elaine, he also even forgets that it’s his mother Kathy Beale’s (Gillian Taylforth) birthday.
Honey Mitchell’s (Emma Barton) fears about identity theft start to deepen and after asking Bea when she’s planning on moving out, Bea admits that she’s due to move in with boyfriend Ian. However, when a Gazette article gets published that seems to imply that Bea and Ian are married, it pumps the breaks on their relationship and Ian breaks up with Bea.
Ian is also set to learn of Bea’s fraudulent credit card, that she’s taken out in Honey’s name in order to buy votes for him. With Ian understandably worrying about where this could leave his new position as councillor if they were to go to the police, what will Honey and the rest of the suspicious Walford residents choose to do about Bea?
The scenes will see Honey bring Elaine, Ian and Linda together to discuss next steps but could another private rendezvous be in the pipeline for Elaine and Ian? With Ian now set to be single, what could that mean for his feelings towards Elaine, if there are any?
We’ll just have to wait and see!
Read more:
- 5 EastEnders spoilers next week: Bea Pollard exposed and danger for Mark Fowler
- EastEnders confirms return of S Club 7 star for Nigel Bates’s emotional funeral scenes
- EastEnders reveals Vicki and Zack’s blackmailer in early BBC iPlayer release – and it’s not who you’d expect
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Authors
Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.
