End of the road for major EastEnders couple as they split in early iPlayer release – but a twist follows

This article contains spoilers for tonight’s episode of EastEnders, which airs on BBC One at 7.30pm or can be streamed now on iPlayer.

The love affair between Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman) and Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) comes crashing down in EastEnders tonight, after Harvey’ struggled to choose between his two women.

Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) proposed last night, leaving Harvey flabbergasted – particularly poor timing,given that he’d been about to leave her so that he could be with Kathy.

In an attempt to show their appreciation for hard-working family man Harvey, Jean and the Slaters had put together a camp site in the garden to make up for the planned caravan getaway they’d ruined with all their bickering.

Spurred on (in the wrong way) by the family’s love, Harvey rushed over to secret lover Kathy, telling her he was finally ready to leave Jean so that they could be together.

However, when he returned to the Slaters to break the news, Jean dropped down on one knee and popped the question.

As the situation continued to unfold in tonight’s episode – streaming now on BBC iPlayer – Jean was left mortified by Harvey’s silence.

(Rightly) assuming he didn’t want to marry her, she headed over to the café, where she opened up to Kathy.

And, as Harvey later attempted to navigate Jean’s unfortunate proposal, he only wound up making things worse – accidentally agreeing to marry her…. after an extended engagement.

Resigned to the situation, Harvey decided to do what he deemed to be the right thing, calling things off with Kathy once and for all.

But, as he and Kathy shared a tender goodbye kiss, they were caught in this unguarded moment by an unexpected interloper – Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins).

And with Cindy looking for any leverage she can get over Kathy and the family that’s pushing her away, this spells very bad news indeed for Harvey and Kathy.

But what will Cindy do with this information?

As Cindy continues to be given the cold shoulder by her family this week, she reacts in true Cindy fashion – by publicly exposing Kathy and Harvey as he and Jean celebrate their engagement at The Vic.

And, as the fallout settles from the bombshell, Kathy spills all the details of her affair to son Ian (Adam Woodyatt).

Are things over for good between Harvey and Kathy? And how will Jean react to news of his betrayal?