EastEnders’ Denise Fox (Diane Parish) will finally choose her man next week, as the soap places the power of her decision in fans’ hands.
The Walford legend has been torn between lover Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) and ex-husband Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) in recent months, but the storyline will come to a head during an explosive week of episodes for the soap’s 40th anniversary.
As has been previously announced, Thursday’s live episode will feature an interactive element, with fans getting to cast their vote on who Denise ends up with. The actors will then have to play out scenes reacting to the result live on air.
And now bosses have revealed what will happen in the lead-up to Denise’s big decision.
The week begins with Denise finding herself even more conflicted as lovestruck Jack and Ravi ramp up their efforts to prove they are the man she should be with.
However, Denise’s desires are pulled into sharp focus when an explosion rips through Honey and Billy Mitchell’s (Emma Barton and Perry Fenwick) wedding reception at The Queen Vic and both Ravi and Jack are caught up in the devastation.
Speaking about the interactive storyline, actress Diane Parish, who plays Denise, admits her ‘jaw dropped’ when executive producer Chris Clenshaw told her about it.
She recalls: ‘I did suspect something might be coming between Denise and Ravi as I kept having a few little scenes with Aaron, and I didn’t know why. We wondered, after everything that happened between Denise and Ravi, how we’d get to this point. But I was sure that working with an actor like Aaron, who is wonderful, inquisitive, curious and committed, that it would work.
‘So, while I was shocked, I knew this was going to be very interesting as I would be doing this story with two amazing actors.’
She adds: ‘I think Chris Clenshaw understands Denise better than anybody, and he’s gifted me with the most exciting two years of my time on the show to date. I’m really grateful to the story team who created these ideas for Denise.
‘These stories mean I get to show what I can do, and whatever they throw at me, I’m going to do my best with it!’
EastEnders’ 40th anniversary week airs from Monday 17 February on BBC One and iPlayer.
