Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) is mortified to see her husband George (Colin Salmon) ‘cheating’ on her with ex-wife Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) in EastEnders next week – and she’s not the only former partner he’s met up with!
But is everything as it seems?
The two women have never seen eye to eye, ever since Cindy miraculously ‘rose from the dead’ in 2023, revealing that she had spent 25 years in witness protection.
George was unable to resist temptation and found himself falling for her again, but after marrying Elaine in November, the couple have managed to find steady ground.
That was further strengthened by Cindy’s affair with former step-son Junior Knight (Micah Balfour), and the subsequent attack she faced on Christmas Day at the hands of Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth).
United and stronger than ever before, Elaine was mortified to see George offer his support to Cindy at the re-opening of The Prince Albert earlier this week.
Under new management, she’d planned to go all-out with a relaunch celebration, but hadn’t managed to sell enough tickets or pull off a big enough publicity campaign to garner attention.
There’s also the small matter of her being Cindy Beale, Walford’s most hated woman.
In upcoming scenes, still reeling from her husband’s act of betrayal, Elaine decides to show George just how committed she is with a sentimental gift that harks back to his boxing days.
As they share a warm moment, Junior bursts in and decides to reveal where his dad was on the night of Cindy’s attack.
Despite telling everyone that he was attending an illegal boxing match, Junior knows the truth. He was actually visiting ex-wife Sabrina. If that wasn’t bad enough, George then spills that she tried to kiss him.
After a vicious argument, George rushes off into the night and searches for Junior. He wants to know why he dropped the bombshell. Unfortunately, the first person he bumps into is Cindy, who is more than happy to offer her words of wisdom.
Elaine spots them together on The Prince Albert balcony, and when Felix Baker (Matthew Morrison) oversees them looking cosy – and leaving together – she’s furious.
Calling up old pal Drew Peacock (Paul Clayton), the pair have a heart to heart as she bats off attention from another punter.
Boosted by Drew’s pep talk, she makes a shocking decision.
