George Knight (Colin Salmon) makes a new ally in EastEnders next week – could he already be moving on from wife Elaine (Harriet Thorpe)?

Earlier this month, she was left furious after discovering her husband spent Christmas evening in the company of his ex-wife Sabrina.

Her fury was intensified when he revealed that she’d tried to kiss him, and even more so when he turned to his other ex-wife, Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), for a shoulder to cry on.

Elaine contacted old mate Drew Peacock (Paul Clayton) for a pep talk. Having taken his words to heart, she decided to sleep with a man she’d just met named Stephen.

Guilt-ridden, she couldn’t keep quiet any longer and came clean to George. His attempts at making amends and apologising fell flat, as she wasn’t willing to take half of the blame.

Since then, Elaine has hit self destruct mode, allowing daughter Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) to run the pub single-handedly and splashing the cash on bottomless prosecco for her mates.

To make matters worse, she handed over 5k to Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy) to go on a singles cruise.

In upcoming scenes, Linda is dismayed when Yolande Trueman (Angela Wynter) asks if she can host fiancé Patrick Trueman’s (Rudolph Walker) 85th birthday party in the pub.

She wonders whether she can manage, but Elaine ultimately overrules her doubts.

With Linda left to hold the fort again, George can see she’s struggling and jumps behind the bar to help out.

Elaine is furious to see him getting into the swing of things and lashes out, therefore ruining any chance of them ever being civil again. Little does she realise, he’s about to fight back.

He warns her that his new solicitor is preparing to play dirty, and he’s got a claim on her half of The Vic.

How will she react?