EastEnders has had its fair share of affairs over the years and we enjoy a bit of drama so much that it seems the writers have clocked on and written at least one big, dragged-out affair every year.
Currently, the affair that’s gripping us is between Denise Fox [Diane Parish] and Ravi Gulati [Aaron Thiara], but there have been so many other affairs we have lost count. In case you’ve forgotten, or need to get up to speed with the squares affairs over the past 38 years, we’re here to help with seven of the most explosive affairs.
Denise Fox and Ravi Gulati
Denise has been happily married to Jack Branning [Scott Maslen] for a while now, but recently he has been MIA and viewers have seen Denise become resentful towards her husband as he is engrossed in work and distant from his family.
As a result there's been a relationship blossoming between Denise and Ravi, which has been building for weeks. The two have flirted, kissed, and Denise has even been invited to spend the night in a hotel with the Square's new bad boy.
Despite all of that and having an attraction to Ravi, Denise has tried to quash what has happened between them, but it seems that she can’t stay away. Ravi added fuel to the fire by taking Denise’s daughter, Chelsea [Zaraah Abrahams] out for a drink, although it didn’t go anywhere after Denise asked him to stop stringing her daughter along.
Now it looks like Denise’s cover might be blown, as Jack has discovered that she was going to leave him for the night after agreeing to the steamy rendezvous.
We’re yet to see the full outcome of the affair but we think it will be explosive especially as there's an EastEnders Christmas death this year.
Stacey Slater and Max Branning
Arguably one of the best storylines in soap history. Stacey Slater [Lacey Turner] had an affair with her soon-to-be father-in-law Max Branning [Jake Wood] who was then married to Tanya Branning [Jo Joyner], while Stacey was engaged to Max’s son Bradley [Charlie Clements].
Another spanner was thrown into the works after Tanya announced that she was pregnant and Max chose to leave Stacey and focus on Tanya. However, it seemed that the flame was still flickering, because on the day that Stacey married Bradley, the two shared one last kiss, which was captured on camera.
Everyone gathered in the living room to watch the tape on Christmas Day, and an iconic EastEnders moment was born.
Sharon Watts and Keanu Taylor
Sharon Watts [Letitia Dean] had an affair with Keanu Taylor [Danny Walters] while husband Phil Mitchell [Steve McFadden] was on a business trip in Spain. Similar to Denise and Ravi, Sharon and Keanu tried to leave each other alone, but before long, Sharon fell pregnant. None other than Mel Owen [Tamzin Outhwaite] found out, and she proceeded to blackmail Sharon.
Unfortunately for Mel (but fortunately for Sharon), she died before she could reveal all to Phil during a high-speed car chase with Sharon. However, Sharon’s relief was short lived as Lisa Fowler [Lucy Benjamin] who knew about the affair made sure Phil was aware of his wife’s antics.
Everything was revealed on Christmas Day in 2019 when Phil’s daughter Louise [Tilly Keeper], who was dating Keanu, revealed all to her dad. Phil then kicked Sharon out and told Martin Fowler [James Alexandrou] to kidnap and kill Keanu. In a shock plot twist, Martin and Linda Carter [Kellie Bright] helped Keanu fake his own death.
Frank and Pat Butcher
Another absolute classic. If you’ve watched the soap for a long while, you’ll remember that Pat Butcher [Pam St Clement] and Frank Butcher [Mike Reid] were married but after Pat ran over and killed a young girl, she spent time inside prison.
Frank then left Walford and abandoned his wife before he returned a few years later and married Peggy Mitchell [Barbra Windsor]. It wasn't long before Frank was having an affair with his ex-wife Pat but when Peggy found out about their affair and plan to elope, she stopped them in their tracks by reading Frank’s goodbye letter to the entire Queen Vic. What an icon.
Christian Clarke and Syed Masood
These two are some of the most memorable characters in the show, in our humble opinion, and we loved them.
The couple had an affair despite Syed Masood [Marc Elliot] being engaged to Amira Masood [Preeya Kalidas]. Even though Christian Clarke [John Partridge] told Syed’s mum Zainab [Nina Wadia] that her son was gay, she still insisted that Syed go ahead with the wedding.
Syed continued his affair with Christian, and a devastated Amira eventually discovered the truth. Syed decided stay married and he even went to conversion therapy. However, after a change of heart he broke things off with his wife and moved in with Christian.
Sharon Watts and Phil Mitchell
This affair has its own nickname, proving it's one for the ages.
Called ‘Sharongate’ by fans, this storyline saw Sharon in a love triangle with the Mitchell brothers. She was married to Grant Mitchell [Ross Kemp], but had an affair with Phil.
It was a slow-burner though and spanned over two years from 1992 to 1994. The episode in which they began their affair was a special three-handler episode between the three characters, which saw Phil wanting to tell Grant about the affair and move forward with Sharon, but she backed out and chose to stay with Grant.
However, in 1994, one of the show's most memorable scenes took place - Grant found out about the affair from a recording and then he played the tape in front of a full Queen Vic during Phil and Kathy Beale’s [Gillian Taylforth] engagement party.
Bianca Jackson and Dan Sullivan
Bianca Jackson [Patsy Palmer] was married to her teenage sweetheart Ricky Butcher [Sid Owen], however she soon found interested by her mum Carol Jackson's [Lindsey Coulson] boyfriend Dan Sullivan [Craig Fairbrass].
As Bianca had previously been involved with Dan, there were many twists and turns in their affair and it soon came to light that Carol was pregnant with Dan’s baby.
The affair was exposed when Carol found a photo of Bianca in Dan’s wallet and he admitted that they were involved years ago. However Bianca then spilled all the beans about their affair and it resulted in an explosive showdown in the Vic.