EastEnders airs shock betrayal in Whitney Dean story in early iPlayer release

When Britney Wainwright (Lola Campbell) told Zack Hudson (James Farrar) that Whitney had paid her mum Keeley (Kirsty J Curtis) in order to keep her, so the fostering arrangement was not official, Whit assumed that best mate Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) had spilled the beans.

When Whitney threw her out of the house and lashed out by telling recovering alcoholic Lauren to "go and have a drink", Zack set her straight on who had told him the truth, and the pair had a furious row.

When Zack asked at what point Whit had stopped caring about his wishes, Whitney retorted that his claims that she barely knew Britney had been behind her attitude.

Whitney added that if asked to choose between Zack and Britney, she would choose Britney every time - and Zack walked out.

He ended up at Peggy's bar, where Lauren appeared to be taking Whitney's nasty words on board as she ordered an alcoholic drink!

Lauren explained that she wasn't going to drink it, but that she liked to order alcohol sometimes and just "look at it". She and Zack had a heart-to-heart, and as they started to bond, Zack decided to leave before he did something he might regret.

But instead of following through on this, he invited her to get something to eat.

Eating chips in the Square, they shared a laugh - while Whitney conceded that she had made mistakes, before finally telling Britney about her diagnosis of Usher syndrome.

Britney struggled to come to terms with the knowledge that her sight would continue to deteriorate, as well as her hearing.

But Whitney, Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) and Penny Branning (Kitty Castledine) vowed that Britney could do anything she wanted with her life, and they would all be there for her - including Zack.

Little did Whitney know that Zack and Lauren were kissing passionately, looking very much like they were about to take things even further! Will Whitney find out about their fling?

Star McGarty is due to exit EastEnders, but whether it's a happy ending for her remains to be seen...

Anyone affected by Usher syndrome can find help and support by visiting Cure Usher.

Read more:

• EastEnders' Whitney Dean is caught out in early BBC iPlayer release
• Olly Alexander gets cameo in EastEnders ahead of Eurovision
• EastEnders airs big twist in Jay Brown storyline in early iPlayer release
• EastEnders airs heartwarming scenes in history-making early iPlayer release

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Visit our dedicated EastEnders page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers.

Check out more of our Soaps coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what else is on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.