Spoiler warning for Thursday 14th December's episode of EastEnders, released at 6am on BBC iPlayer and airing at 7:30pm on BBC One.

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Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) and Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) have embarked on a passionate fling in EastEnders, after weeks of hints that the BBC soap was indeed going there.

We can only imagine what returning character Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) will have to say when she inevitably hears about this.

Stacey and Jack began the day sharing flirty smiles when he called round to confirm that he had instructed police colleagues to search for the missing Eve Unwin (Heather Peace).

Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) told Stacey that she recognised the look in her eyes, and warned her not to bed another Branning!

Stacey insisted that she and Jack were just friends, but was distracted by a card in the post from her stalker Theo Hawthorne (William Ellis). Confiding in Eve's worried lover Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal), the pair panicked that Theo could be behind Eve's disappearance.

But a police officer explained that there was no connection, so Stace took matters into her own hands, leaving Theo a threatening voicemail!

Officers questioned a guilty Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) and a remorseless Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) over Eve, and Nish wanted to take action over a suspicious Jack and Stacey.

Meanwhile, Kim Fox (Tameka Empson) bought her sister, Denise Fox (Diane Parish), some lingerie and ordered her to have some fun with husband Jack. But when he overheard Denise telling off Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy) for stirring over her liaisons with Ravi, Jack was haunted by this reminder.

At home, he expressed his embarrassment over her behaviour, but Denise pointed out that she hadn't put a foot wrong since and had thought they were over Ravi.

Just as the pair looked to be resolving things, a harmless comment from Denise led Jack to wonder if the lingerie he'd spotted was actually for Ravi's sake. When it came to it, Jack simply didn't trust her, and Denise left to stay with Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker).

Outside, Jack helped Stacey when she thought that Theo had broken into her house again. But Jack confirmed that Theo had been bailed to Scotland, and couldn't have got to Eve. When she came clean about her threatening message, Jack was fuming and the conversation ended in a row.

Stacey later heard about Denise moving out, and went to apologise to Jack. He invited her inside, and as the wine flowed, Jack drew Stacey into a passionate kiss as he asked her to stay...

Viewers who identify with Stacey's story can contact the National Stalking Helpline on 08088020300, or visit suzylamplugh.org. You can also visit Safeguarding Hub.

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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 or Streaming Guide.

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Authors

Laura Denby
Laura DenbyFreelance Writer

Laura Denby is a Freelance Soaps writer covering all the latest news in the Dales, Cobbles and East End for Radio Times. She's a soaps nerd with a love for comedy drama, and has also written for Digital Spy, Metro UK and Yahoo UK.

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