EastEnders revealed that as part of their 40th anniversary celebrations, viewers will be given the power to vote on whether Denise Fox rekindles her romance with estranged husband Jack or takes a chance on her secret lover, Ravi Gulati. The outcome? Revealed in a special live episode during anniversary week!
Ahead of the big week, the drama steps up a gear with actor Aaron Thiara opening up about Ravi’s secret relationship with Denise:
How is Ravi feeling now he and Denise are secretly seeing each other?
Ravi and Denise know the situation is complicated and that they perhaps shouldn’t be doing this, but these feelings they had before have been relit. What happened last time escalated in a way that Ravi didn’t really want to happen. This time, it’s different. I think Ravi is a bit more mature, and perhaps he’s slightly less reckless, so he feels like he’s got a clean slate with Denise.
How does Ravi feel about keeping their relationship secret?
Ravi doesn’t want to be sneaking about. He doesn’t want to go back into a secret relationship and feel second best again. But it’s complicated because there are so many other people involved – like Denise’s family and Priya and the kids.
Why does Ravi feel so rattled at Raymond’s birthday party?
At Raymond’s birthday party, Ravi can’t deny how he feels to see Denise with Jack and Raymond. He’s in a space where Denise’s past is right there. Ravi has to respect it, but he can’t hide the way he feels about what’s happening in front of him. Ravi’s now playing a role again where he’s just in the background, and that’s eating away at him.
Does Ravi understand why Denise wants to keep this a secret from Chelsea?
Of course, he completely understands why she’s so concerned about Chelsea. Ravi respects Denise’s wishes and is happy to go at her pace. She needs to feel comfortable about when the other members of the family find out about them, especially Chelsea. Knowing how Chelsea felt about Ravi when they were together, this will cause absolute carnage and it’ll be Denise’s relationship with her daughter that’s on the line.
Later that night, Nugget walks in on Ravi and Denise kissing. What’s Ravi’s reaction?
It’s the worst thing that could have happened because Ravi and Denise want the decision of when to tell people about their relationship to be in their hands, nobody else’s. They want the chance to be together and tell people about that in their own way. So, for Nugget, Ravi’s child, to see that and having to explain that whole situation to him makes it feel like the world is coming crashing down on them.
How does Ravi try to convince Nugget to keep quiet?
Ravi has seen that Nugget is becoming more mature and the only way he can get through to his son, who is a typical teenager, is to speak to him on a level of maturity. He has to talk to Nugget like an adult and not speak down to him. Ravi explains to his son that one day he’ll meet someone, and it could be tricky, and that’s the situation that Ravi is in and he’s trying to find a way through it. There are some beautiful scenes between them. It’s new for Ravi in his journey as a father to communicate and relate to his son in this way.
What goes through Ravi’s head when he later sees Denise hugging Jack?
Ravi is really stung by seeing them and it’s bringing up old feelings from his past about being second best or pushed aside. That’s a trigger for Ravi, not just in his romantic relationships but with everyone in his life. At this point, he’s just realised how much he feels for Denise, and the audience will see a different type of vulnerability in Ravi. His reaction is peppered with jealousy, but the coldness comes from a real place of hurt.
EastEnders airs Monday – Thursday on BBC One at 7.30pm