EastEnders’ Nicola Mitchell has been trying to free herself from suspicion of murder, but viewers think she may have a much larger problem looming in Albert Square

(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/Jack Barnes)
EastEnders viewers think they’ve cracked Nicola Mitchell’s biggest secret yet – and it could turn the entire Mitchell family upside down. In dramatic scenes that aired this week, Nicola (Carlyss Peer) and Teddy Mitchell (Roland Manookian) continued their desperate attempts to cover up the murder of Shireen, their son Harry Mitchell’s former girlfriend.

Earlier this year, fans learned that Shireen went missing four years ago, just before the Mitchells left Dartford under mysterious circumstances. Nicola had been desperate for Teddy to stay away from their old neighbourhood, fearing the past would catch up with them. Unfortunately for her, he was determined to start building work in Paradise Park, which would mean Shireen’s body was found.

Nicola Mitchell and Harry

Viewers think Harry Mitchell secretly fathered one of her children(Image: X/@RyanSoapKing25)
When Nicola went to her hitman Benji for help, he revealed the situation was even worse than she expected – he had buried one of Nicola’s bracelets with the body so that if Shireen was ever found, it would be clear who was responsible for the murder.

During Tuesday night’s episode, Teddy was seen secretly tipping off the police after striking a deal with Benji to move Shireen’s buried body. Despite offering him £60,000, Benji demanded more, which pressured Teddy to accept a loan from Phil Mitchell to fund the pay-out. But in a surprise move, he called the authorities instead.

As Benji attempted to dig up Shireen’s body in Paradise Park, police swooped in, with the dodgy dealer screaming, “It’s Nicola Mitchell you want!” as he was dragged away in handcuffs. Meanwhile, Teddy watched the scene unfold from the safety of his car.

While fans initially questioned the logic of Teddy’s plan – particularly given Benji had already told his associates he was meeting Nicola – the final moments of the episode left viewers with a completely different question in their minds.

One person has shared a theory that could involve a shocking paternity twist. They speculated: “Who thinks Nicola has another secret? Barney from Zack as his son and Harry from Benji. It wouldn’t be a far stretch of imagination storyline.”

Another fan chimed in, saying: “The foreshadowing at the end of tonight’s episode… Benji contacting Nicola – Harry being in the bar moments later. So either Harry is working with Benji, Benji contacted Harry or they are father and son.”

This comes after Nicola already revealed that Barney’s real dad is Zack, not Teddy. Zack discovered the truth when he was having his blood type analysed and realised that he had a secret fling with Nicola 16 years ago, which would match up with the timeline of when Barney was conceived.

He confronted her about it and she admitted that she always knew Zack was Barney’s biological father. Zack was shaken by the news and started behaving erratically, breaking in to watch Barney while he slept and drowning his sorrows in drink.

This secret is also the reason Shireen is dead, as Nicola had her killed after she discovered that Teddy was not Barney’s dad. Now it seems Barney might not be the only one of Nicola’s boys who was secretly fathered by another man.

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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