**Warning: Contains spoilers for today’s EastEnders episode (14th May 2025), airing on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.**

Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) took yet more twisted revenge in the latest eventful instalment of EastEnders, paving the way for a dramatic showdown.

Shunned after the birth of grandson Jimmy, Cindy demanded that Ian (Adam Woodyatt) and Kathy (Gillian Taylforth) sign over the family empire in exchange for her silence over Kathy’s Christmas attack on her.

While Ian opted to focus on a party to celebrate Jimmy’s homecoming, a spooked Kathy accepted that her romance with secret lover Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman) was over when he clumsily accepted a proposal from Jean Slater (Gillian Wright).

But when Cindy caught Kathy and Harvey sharing a goodbye kiss on camera, uncovering Harvey’s false alibi for Kathy in the process, she set about blackmailing Kathy all over again.

Jean smiling at Harvey in EastEnders

Jean had no idea of Harvey’s affair. BBC/Jack Barnes
In turmoil, Kathy confided in Harvey that she had struck Cindy over the head with the shovel, and now wanted to hand herself in to stop Cindy from destroying Ian’s life’s work.

Harvey urged Kathy not to give up, and she tried to broach the subject of Ian signing Cindy’s paperwork.

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But when Ian explained that he finally felt free of Cindy, Kathy couldn’t go through with it and arranged a meeting with Cindy at The Albert.

Kathy insisted that rinsing Ian dry of his businesses would only block Cindy from ever reconciling with son Peter (Thomas Law) and her grandchildren, and that she should accept ownership of Kathy’s bar instead.

At The Vic, Ian was raising a toast to Jimmy when Cindy arrived, leading Peter’s partner, Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa), to flee upstairs with the baby.

Cindy revealed that she now had control of The Albert, and tried to convince Peter that she deserved this as compensation for almost dying.

But Peter was only reminded of just how manipulative his mum could be, and feeling rejected once more, Cindy gleefully overpowered the public screening of Beale family photos with the video of Kathy kissing Harvey.

With the Slaters talked into attending to announce Harvey’s engagement to Jean, how will poor Jean react to the revelation of her cheating fiancé?

Read more:

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EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.

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Authors
Laura Denby is a Freelance Soaps writer covering all the latest news in the Dales, Cobbles and East End for Radio Times. She’s a soaps nerd with a love for comedy drama, and has also written for Digital Spy, Metro UK and Yahoo UK.