Martin accuses Stuart of making a move on Bex in EastEnders showdown
The overprotective parent gets the wrong end of the stick
Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ) is about to make yet another enemy in EastEnders when he angers Martin Fowler (James Bye) who angrily confronts him believing he has made a romantic move on his teenage daughter Bex Fowler (Jasmine Armfield). However, all is not as it seems as the overprotective parent has leapt to the wrong conclusion thanks to best mate Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami).
In the episode airing on Monday 18 March, Stuart sees housemate Bex getting upset and storming off so he races after her to check if she is okay.
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The unlikely housemates, both living under the roof of Dot Branning (June Brown) who is currently in Ireland visiting grandson Charlie Cotton, have struck up a bond recently and when Stu catches up with the stressed schoolgirl they end up having a heart-to-heart chat.
What makes Martin think Stuart fancies Bex?
Unfortunately, stallholder Kush has seen Stuart approach Bex and has immediately assumed the worst of the horrid Highway, who many in the community believe is still that nasty piece of work who tried to wreck Mick and Linda Carter's marriage, despite Dot taking him in convinced he had turned over a new leaf and repented for his sins.
Telling Martin what he saw sends a fuming Mr Fowler over to Dot's place and threatens Stuart in the hallway. Kush follows and is forced to admit he got it wrong - Stuart is genuinely being a friend to Bex, and nothing more. Mortified Bex is upset even more at her dad's behaviour and false accusation that Stuart had tried it on with her leaving relations between father and daughter sufficiently strained.
But can unpredictable Stuart really be trusted, or has he got a sinister agenda behind the sudden interest in Bex's welfare? Will Martin regret crossing Dot's volatile lodger and publicly humiliating him? And what will Dot's stepdaughter-in-law Rainie Branning (Tanya Franks) make of all this as she plots to prove Stuart is still a bad boy?
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