EastEnders fans will have the opportunity to decide who Denise Fox (Diane Parish) should be with as part of the upcoming 40th anniversary week.
The much-loved matriarch is currently torn between reuniting with former husband Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) or embarking on a new and passionate romance with secret lover Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara).
Her marriage, as viewers will recall, fell apart last year after policeman Jack had an affair with Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner).
The discovery of such a thing devastated Denise but Jack subsequently redeemed himself in assisting her to cover up Keanu Taylor’s demise – and such a thing momentarily reignited the spark between the two.
Denise, however, has since found herself conflicted, with former flame Ravi back in the frame. The spark between the two has been palpable, with Christmas seeing the pair sharing a kiss.
But the question is: just who should Denise be with? Well that all lies in the hands of viewers, who will ultimately be able to have their say next month, during EastEnders’ 40th anniversary celebrations.
Discussing the history-making moment, EastEnders boss Chris Clenshaw said: ‘We’re all so excited to give our audience their first ever chance to decide how one of our big storylines plays out.
‘Their votes will determine whether Denise picks Jack or Ravi, with the outcome being revealed as part of our live episode. There is a lot to come over the next few weeks for all three involved, so it’ll be extremely exciting to see which way the audience choose to take the story!’
Where we left off, Denise was left heartbroken after Ravi urged her to stay away from him because she ‘deserves better’.
The character has been beating himself up over his role in Nish Panesar’s (Navin Chowdhry) demise, despite the fact that he ultimately saved the lives of Suki (Balvinder Sopal) and Eve (Heather Peace).
Nish, as viewers know, broke out of prison and unleashed chaos on the day of Suki and Eve’s wedding. The villain poisoned Eve and attempted to do the same to ex-wife Suki, refusing to accept that she didn’t want to be with him.
Ravi raced to the rescue but Nish berated him, which led to the restaurateur seeing red as he pushed his abusive father from the balcony of the hotel.
Nish fell to his death with Suki by his side.
Suki, however, managed to survive the fall. Ravi has been riddled with guilt over his actions, with Monday’s (January 6) edition of the BBC One soap seeing him tell Suki that he simply pushed Nish out of anger for what he said, worried that such a thing makes him as bad as Nish.
But despite Suki’s reassurances, Ravi couldn’t shake the feeling that he was a bad person and therefore he arranged to meet with Denise – who hadn’t long been released from hospital, where she was treated following Nish’s attack.
Ravi fought tears as he explained to Denise that he pushed Nish deliberately – believing that his dad set a trap for him and that he walked right into it. In emotional scenes, he urged Denise to stay away from him, assuring her that she deserves better than a man with ‘blood on his hands’.
But does Denise’s heart ultimately lie with Ravi? Or is it Jack who she’s destined to be with? For once, it’s not up to the writers to decide such a thing – it’s up to you!
