{"id":229730,"date":"2026-01-12T12:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T12:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/229730\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T12:01:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T12:01:11","slug":"new-couple-confirmed-in-eastenders-as-feelings-deepen-after-one-night-stand-soaps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/229730\/","title":{"rendered":"New couple ‘confirmed’ in EastEnders as feelings deepen after one night stand | Soaps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"An
\n\t\tThey take a risk (Picture: BBC\/Metro)<\/p>\n

Two Walford residents wonder whether their connection might be strong enough to withstand a proper relationship in EastEnders soon, following a one night stand together. <\/p>\n

Penny Branning<\/a> (Kitty Castledine<\/a>) and Vinny Panesar (Shiv Jalota) shared a kiss on New Year\u2019s Eve. <\/p>\n

At the time, it seemed as though this was the start of a new romance, but Penny <\/a>then opened up to friend Gina Knight (Francesca Henry) and admitted it was just a one-off.<\/p>\n

In upcoming episodes, Gina senses that Penny might be hiding her feelings for Vinny somewhat. She picks up on her being interested in him, and suggests that she should explore whether it could be more than just a one-night stand. <\/p>\n

\t\t\"Nish,
\n\t\tVinny is one of the younger members of the Panesar clan, and has been caught up in a lot of drama over the years (Picture: BBC)<\/p>\n

Later in the week, Penny and Vinny commit to seeing where things go and go on a date \u2013 but how will it play out?<\/p>\n

The start of 2026 for EastEnders fans<\/a> saw them take a trip into the future, as a flashforward episode aired that focused on Max Branning<\/a> (Jake Wood<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The character, who returned towards the end of last year, was caught up in all sorts of drama.<\/p>\n

Plots that were hinted at included a wedding that almost certainly won\u2019t be going ahead, Max waking up after a night with his pregnant paramour to take a phone<\/a> call from his bride-to-be, a gunman, and an absolute ton of coppers.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Max
\n\t\tA flashforward focusing on Max confirmed huge stories will take place in 2026 (Picture: BBC)<\/p>\n

It also hinted at a new baby, solicitation to murder, Lauren Branning<\/a>\u2019s (Jacqueline Jossa<\/a>) big secret, four potential brides, the return of Denise Fox<\/a>\u2019s daughter Libby (Belinda Owusu), and Max\u2019s ultimate choice between his two children.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Penny and Vinny feature within theories about the flashforward. Some fans of the BBC One soap believe that baby Ethan, who was in the same room as Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) during the episode, might be Penny\u2019s son and therefore Jack\u2019s grandson.<\/p>\n

Will this theory prove correct?<\/p>\n

You\u2019re going to have to wait quite a while to find out!<\/p>\n

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As a loyal Metro Soaps reader, we want to make sure you never miss our articles when searching for stories. We have all the latest soaps news, spoilers, videos, and interviews, with a vibrant community of highly engaged readers.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> and tick\u00a0Metro.co.uk\u00a0to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.<\/p>\n

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Arrow
\nMORE: Devastating EastEnders death revisited and there\u2019s fresh devastation<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: Jake Wood issues desperate plea after EastEnders colleague left in coma<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: Unexpected new EastEnders romance \u2018confirmed\u2019 for Max as he is left in shock<\/a><\/p>\n


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\t\t\t\tThe Soaps Newsletter \u2013 Daily<\/p>\n

All the latest soaps spoilers and gossip, in your inbox every morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They take a risk (Picture: BBC\/Metro) Two Walford residents wonder whether their connection might be strong enough to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229731,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[9518,156,136807,136808,136809,111,139,69,136810,136811,1538,437,136812],"class_list":{"0":"post-229730","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-eastenders","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-jake-wood","11":"tag-kitty-castledine","12":"tag-max-branning","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-penny-branning","17":"tag-shiv-jalota","18":"tag-soaps","19":"tag-tv","20":"tag-vinny-panesar"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}