EastEnders spoilers follow for Thursday’s episode (16 April), which is available to watch now on streaming service BBC iPlayer and hasn’t yet aired on TV.
EastEnders has confirmed the identity of Vicki Fowler and Zack Hudson’s mystery blackmailer – and it might not be who you expect. This week, the pair were involved in another steamy clinch at Vicki’s hen do, ahead of her wedding to Ross Marshall next month.
As Vicki made it clear to Zack that things were over between them, an anonymous blackmailer texted her a photo of them kissing and demanded money, or else Ross will find out the truth.
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While Mark discovered that the message was sent from Lauren and Peter’s house, Vicki failed to track down the blackmailer – who gave her 24 hours to hand over £20,000.
Ian piled pressure on Vicki to tell Ross the truth in today’s episode, so he didn’t have to hear the truth about her affair from the person sending her threats.
Left with no other options, Vicki told Zack that she was going to confess everything to Ross. She then found her partner and asked to have a chat with him, but Ross had a client waiting so they agreed to meet up at lunch instead.
As Zack comforted Vicki in the meantime, she apologised for stringing him along over the last few weeks. Zack encouraged her to reply to the blackmailer to get more clues about their identity.
Meanwhile, Sam, Ian and Louie went to visit Nigel in the care home, and Kathy later joined them. When Julie left the room, Ian asked his mum why she didn’t tell him about Vicki and Zack.
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Ian and Kathy were suspicious when Louie got a message on his phone, which he shouldn’t be using for texting. They took his device and saw a text from Vicki – and realised that Louie was the blackmailer.
When Ian marched Louie home to apologise, Zack discovered the truth, so he headed to Knight Fusion and stopped Vicki before she could spill the beans to Ross.
Louie told horrified Vicki that he sent the messages, adding that Cindy had previously told him that blackmail was a “necessarily evil”. He begged her not to tell his parents, explaining that he did this because he knows they are struggling for money.
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Vicki agreed not to tell Lauren and Peter, as long as he deleted the incriminating photo. She convinced Ian to keep quiet as well, insisting that things were over between her and Zack, but he said he didn’t feel able to be the best man at the wedding anymore.
That evening, Vicki told Zack once more that her heart lies with Ross. But Zack revealed that he isn’t completely out of the picture yet, as Ross has asked him to be his best man after Ian dropped out.
Will Vicki and Ross get married without a hitch next month, or could Zack spoil the party?
EastEnders airs on Mondays – Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.
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For exclusive soap star interviews, gossip, spoilers and theories every week, don’t miss the Soap Scoop podcast from Inside Soap magazine. The latest episode delves into next week’s soap spoilers for EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale- as Carla and Lisa get married and Charity goes into labour.