EastEnders' Harriet Thorpe explains Elaine Peacock's revelations about Linda's father

Elaine revealed that Brian was gay, in the closet, and conducted an affair with Drew (Paul Clayton) with her knowledge for most of their marriage.

The revelations are a lot for Linda to deal with – having not had the easiest time with Johnny coming out as gay back in 2014 – and now the macho father she idolised being revealed as gay has shaken her vision of her family life growing up.

Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press, actress Harriet Thorpe revealed the impact she hopes the revelations have on how Elaine is perceived.

Harriet reveals: "What's really important for me and for the woman that Elaine is today, is that she had no shame about it. She loved her husband and wanted to support him in his choice. He was scared. He was frightened of people knowing. But Elaine wasn't trying to put a mask up for her.

"She wanted to honour her husband, and had he been in another place, she would have but he wasn't able to, because of his macho standpoint, and couldn't deal with then the judgment. But what's so important to me is that she was there for him."

"For Elaine, it wasn't that she felt betrayed or lost, it was the reality and it was heartbreaking for her, but also only in a sense that she thought everything was normal for her, but actually him wanting to be with another man was also normal and was also okay for her, and she wanted to support him because he was frightened that people would judge him, so she didn't tell anybody, for that reason, and that's important."

Of course this was all dredged up for Elaine when she unexpectedly came face to face with Brian's lover Drew Peacock, who had been booked by Johnny for Elaine's hen do.

Discussing Elaine's shock of seeing Drew Peacock again, Thorpe said: "I think it's that thing of, again, her dream coming true, he's having her hen night. It was all going to be fun and lovely. And then this person who, you know, her husband, died.

"And then suddenly there's this person who was part of the thing that she had to pretend everything was normal to support her daughter, to support her husband, even though she was okay with it, this suddenly came up in her new wedding, which was such a shock, because, again, it came out of nowhere from left field and I think triggered her feelings of 'Does she have value'?"

Of course, this isn't just a huge moment for Elaine, but is also life-changing for an already off-the-wagon Linda.

On Linda's reaction, Thorpe adds: "Again, Linda loves, loved and idolised her father, but she had no real idea of what it was like as a mother, to be this tough person, to pretend everything's okay, run the pub, do everything. Linda feels she was never there for her, but she was but she was also trying to support her husband, who had a massive issue. So hopefully Linda can realise that her mother is there and actually always was, but she was trying to support her dad, but she didn't know it."

Could this bring an all-new understanding from Linda to Elaine's past and recent behaviour?

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.

Visit our dedicated EastEnders page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.