EastEnders actor Aaron Thiara has teased scenes of ‘carnage’ ahead for his character Ravi Gulati as his secret romance with Denise Fox (Diane Parish) hots up.
The pair have quietly been seeing each other since Christmas, and while Denise has been drawn to the bad boy once again, she is also battling resurfaced feelings for her ex-husband Jack Branning (Scott Maslen).
The love triangle is particularly messy as Ravi previously dated Denise’s daughter Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams).
After Chelsea nearly catches them together next week, Denise begins to panic about what would happen should she find out.
Aaron explains: ‘Ravi completely understands why she’s so concerned about Chelsea. Ravi respects Denise’s wishes and is happy to go at her pace. She needs to feel comfortable about when the other members of the family find out about them, especially Chelsea.
‘Knowing how Chelsea felt about Ravi when they were together, this will cause absolute carnage and it’ll be Denise’s relationship with her daughter that’s on the line.’
However, Denise’s worst fears look set to be realised later in the week when Ravi’s son Nugget Gulati (Juhaim Rasul Choudhury) catches them kissing at Raymond’s birthday party.
‘It’s the worst thing that could have happened,’ admits Aaron.
‘Ravi and Denise want the decision of when to tell people about their relationship to be in their hands, nobody else’s. They want the chance to be together and tell people about that in their own way.
‘So, for Nugget, Ravi’s child, to see that and having to explain that whole situation to him makes it feel like the world is coming crashing down on them.’
Ravi promises a worried Denise he will talk to Nugget and get him to agree to keep their secret, which leads to some ‘beautiful scenes’ between father and son, Aaron says.
‘He has to talk to Nugget like an adult and not speak down to him,’ the actor explains. ‘Ravi explains to his son that one day he’ll meet someone, and it could be tricky, and that’s the situation that Ravi is in and he’s trying to find a way through it. There are some beautiful scenes between them.
‘It’s new for Ravi in his journey as a father to communicate and relate to his son in this way.’
But with Nugget having covertly helped his m.u.r.d.e.r.o.u.s grandad Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) with deadly consequences, will another big secret be too much for the teenager to keep?
Meanwhile, soap bosses have confirmed Denise, Ravi and Jack will be at the centre of the soap’s interactive vote as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations next month.
Viewers will get to decide the outcome of the love triangle, which will then be revealed during a special live episode.
EastEnders airs these scenes from Monday 13 January at 7.30pm on BBC One or stream first from 6am on iPlayer.
