Poor Peter Beale (Thomas Law), while he’s under the impression all is fine at home in EastEnders, little does he know his wife, Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) is taking every available opportunity to get sweaty with Mark Fowler Jr (Stephen Aaron-Sipple).
Unfortunately for both Peter and Lauren, sheer chaos runs in their respective bloodlines, and recent calamity between their parents, Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) and Max Branning (Jake Wood) has taken a hell of a toll on their own relationship.
After months of resisting his charms, the latest blow up between Peter and Lauren sent her hopping, skipping and jumping into the arms of Mark.
Peter, as of right now, knows nothing about his wife’s duplicity; something which will apparently remain the case until at least New Year, with the flashforward seemingly revealing that the two are still together, while also hinting that Lauren’s affair is still ongoing.
When asked to tease what’s coming up for his alter-ego, Thomas was straight up with his response.
‘It’s chaos, as per usual, and a lot of deceit. There’s gonna be heartbreak.’
Asked why Peter stays with Lauren despite their nearly-constant misery at the Pride of Britain Awards, Thomas told The Mirror: ‘Family is the strongest bond, everything is deeply rooted in family with regards to the Beales’, while adding that the two share a ‘trauma bond’, having grown up in Walford together and enduring the losses, heartache and trauma that comes with it!
On how the two could make it through, Thomas said: ‘Peter seems to do things right for Lauren, he’s got to reassess if things go wrong, but as long as he keeps Lauren, he’s got to just be Peter, he makes her laugh.’
Stephen, who plays Mark has also previously spoken out on what’ll undoubtedly prove to be an explosive reveal: ‘Mark normally just goes for what he wants and takes what he wants, he doesn’t care about the consequences.
‘There’s obviously going to be some disaster. She’s a married woman! We’ll see how that plays out!’
Lauren and Mark initially came together when he set his sights on using her car lot as a conduit for his stolen car scam.
His ultimate aim was to clear the debt he owed to his former drugs boss, though it soon became clear that there was genuine chemistry between the two – chemistry that Lauren found it difficult to deny.
Though Peter discovered the criminal undercurrent of their connection, he remained in the dark that they were close to giving in to their lust, with Lauren eventually asking Mark to leave Walford to prove his feelings for her were genuine.
Mark agreed and moved away, though his re-emergence on the Square came at the worst possible time.
Returning home to say his goodbyes to his family prior to a move back to America, Lauren and Peter were at breaking point when he discovered that she knew about Max’s cheating on his mum, taking Cindy’s side as the family erupted into a bitter clash.
Heading straight for Mark, Lauren finally abandoned her resolve and two agreed to enter into an affair, on the proviso that it remains ‘low-key’ and ‘casual’.
The secret came under major threat though, when new ‘Enders rotter, Ned Hawkins’ (Jamie Bamber) caught them at it, and demanded a favour of Mark: namely to rough up his son, Ryder (Felix Uff), in order to keep him from coming out of the closet.
Though Mark was repulsed by the request, Lauren pleaded with him to play along, terrified of the prospect of her family collapsing should Ned spill the tea, and he was forced to comply.