This Morning: EastEnders star teasing 'drama' in Albert Square
The Christmas special of EastEnders, a festive favourite across the UK, delivered its usual dose of drama this year, with Cindy Beale (played by Michelle Collins) at the centre of a family scandal.
Christmas Day in Walford was fraught with tension as Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa), battling addiction, got her hands on a coveted USB stick that exposed Cindy's illicit affair with Junior Knight (Micah Balfour).
As the Knight and Beale families gathered for Christmas dinner at The Queen Vic, Lauren couldn't resist gloating to Cindy about her knowledge of the secret affair.
Cindy was consumed by fear that Lauren would reveal her secret. When Cindy attempted to silence Lauren with drugs, Lauren was disgusted and revealed she'd passed the USB stick to a member of Cindy's family.
Post-dinner, The Queen Vic opened its doors to the locals for the traditional Christmas celebrations. However, Cindy was distracted, desperately trying to identify who had the incriminating recording, but her efforts were fruitless.
In an unexpected turn of events, it was Anna Knight (Molly Rainford) who found the device, cleverly disguised as a gift for Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt). George Knight (Colin Salmon) then played the recording on his laptop for all the pub-goers to hear.
In a poignant exchange between Cindy and her former flame David Wicks (Michael French), she confessed her feelings for George and admitted to exploiting Junior, leaving Ian heartbroken. In a frantic bid to protect her family, Cindy pleaded with George to stop the recording.
Despite this, Ian was determined to listen to the entire conversation, grabbing the laptop and retreating to the kitchen.
The situation escalated as Cindy refused to accept blame for her actions, asserting that Ian was the only one she truly cared about and she would be happy never to see any of them again.
Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) was distraught over George's upset regarding his son's affair with his ex-wife Cindy, leading her to suspect lingering feelings on his part, resulting in her evicting him from the pub.
Back at the Beales', tempers flared before Ian forcefully expelled Cindy from the house, causing her to tumble onto the frosty pavement. She then aimlessly roamed the snow-laden streets, only to find the tube station closed.
Cindy hastily flagged down a taxi to flee Walford and made her way to the Square's gardens to await her ride. However, shortly after, an unknown person struck her on the head with a snow shovel, causing her to fall unconscious.
But who is the perpetrator?
EastEnders is set to reveal the identity of Cindy's Christmas Day attacker during the soap's 40th anniversary week in February, as announced by the show on Boxing Day.
As Cindy's fate hangs in the balance, EastEnders viewers are left guessing who could be behind the shocking incident, with the suspense building until the dramatic reveal.
Chris Clenshaw, the executive producer of EastEnders, has hinted at the much-anticipated storyline, saying: "Our 40th anniversary storylines have been in the works for some time, but even at the very start of planning, we knew that we wanted to reveal the identity of Cindy's attacker as part of this.
He added: "Many characters currently find themselves in the line of question, but over the coming weeks, the audience can look out for clues themselves to who may be the culprit. Cindy's attacker reveal is just one of many stories we have planned for the anniversary as it is set to be a week of explosive drama for the audience to remember."
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer
