It was a bad start to the New Year for Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) in EastEnders when best friend Eve Unwin (Heather Peace) was poisoned by Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry).
However, tonight’s episode saw the iconic character face a different kind of heartbreak when she made a shocking discovery.
Stacey was in bits as Eve was rushed to hospital, and wasted no time in calling Martin Fowler (James Bye) for some support.
Martin was quick to wrap her in a hug and assure her that everything would be fine, but Stacey was caught off-guard when Ruby Allen (Louisa Lytton) also arrived.
Though Ruby tried to comfort her, Stacey refused to accept her show of kindness, certain that she had an ulterior motive for being there.
It didn’t take Stacey long to lay into Ruby, accusing her of coming to the hospital just to try to ‘pull’ Martin.
Little does Stacey know, Martin and Ruby have already shared a kiss after seeing in the New Year together at Roman’s bedside.
Upset by Stacey’s outburst, Ruby left, but was later found by Martin elsewhere in the hospital.
Though Ruby urged him to go and comfort Stacey, Martin was determined to get to the bottom of why Ruby was so upset, despite her protestations that she understood why Stacey was angry.
As Ruby revealed that she wasn’t the person Stacey was accusing her of being, Martin revealed that he already knew that.
He explained how he hadn’t just called Ruby to the hospital for Stacey, but for him as well, before dropping the bombshell that he wanted them to make a go of things and be a proper family.
As Martin and Ruby kissed, they were totally unaware of a devastated Stacey watching them from around the corner.
It’s clear that Stacey has been harbouring feelings for Martin for the past few months, and she couldn’t hide her feelings of heartbreak at watching him rekindle his relationship with Ruby.
Is this the end of all hope for Martin and Stacey?
