EastEnders airs Kathy Cotton and Harvey Monroe romance twist in early BBC iPlayer release

The BBC One soap has been showing the pair growing closer together for months while Harvey grows further apart from his partner Jean Slater (Gillian Wright).

The harsh treatment of Harvey after the death of Martin Fowler (James Bye) has not gone unnoticed by fans and has, unsurprisingly, pushed him closer to Kathy as they have supported each other in recent weeks.

In Wednesday’s episode, the pair shared a kiss in the allotments, which prompted an embarrassed Kathy to flee afterwards.

In Thursday’s episode, Kathy and Harvey spoke about what occurred the night before, and both agreed it was a mistake and shouldn’t have happened.

They both recognised how they felt about each other but that it couldn’t go any further - with Harvey even suggesting that he distance himself from Kathy, who was saddened.

While Kathy retreated home, Harvey stepped up his efforts to get his relationship with an overwhelmed Jean and planned a romantic meal for the pair.

However, when Mo Harris (Laila Morse) showed up in Jean’s place when she couldn’t make it and Jean never communicated this to Harvey directly, something snapped, and he headed over to the Beale house to see Kathy.

Meeting Kathy in her kitchen, passion overtook him, and he kissed her, prompting a lustful romp that was nearly caught out by Kathy’s son Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt).

Once again, however, Harvey called their tryst a mistake and left Kathy disappointed with his behaviour.

In the taxi cab office, Harvey ruminated on his romantic dilemma and had a conversation with Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) about losing Martin and also seizing happiness, inspiring Harvey to make a choice.

As a sad Kathy drank at The Albert, she was eventually approached on the balcony by Harvey, who wanted to speak with her. He professed his feelings for her and his decision to end things with Jean and be with Kathy.

However, Kathy also couldn’t handle the thought of putting Jean and the Slaters through more heartache after the loss of Martin, but said she wanted to be Harvey - so they would have to keep it a secret.

Harvey then passionately kissed Kathy, and it is now clear that a new secret affair has begun between the two.

So, while Kathy and Harvey seem to be solid, the fallout from their affair clearly won’t be. Plus, Harvey has no idea that Kathy was the one who tried to kill Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) at Christmas and gave her a false alibi.

This is only going to end in heartache...

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

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