Ben Mitchell vowed to fight Jay Brown for custody of his young daughter Lexi Pearce in Tuesday’s instalment of EastEnders.
It appeared Ben’s distressing week took another unexpected turn after learning that his rapist, Lewis Butler (Aidan O’Callaghan) had been arrested and charged with attacking someone else.
Recent episodes have seen Ben (Max Bowden) struggle to cope with his mental health, as he decides to ignore his feelings by fighting in a boxing match.
Lola, the mother of Ben’s child Lexi, has a terminal brain tumour and was recently given only months to live, with her final scenes expected to air later this year.
She is distraught and later tells Jay that with time running out, she needs to get some essential things in order and wants him to adopt Lexi.
Trouble: Ben Mitchell vowed to fight Jay Brown for custody of his young daughter Lexi Pearce in Tuesday’s instalment of EastEnders
Shocking: And after sharing her prognosis with her father Billy, Lola realises she needs to get things in order, and tells Jay she wants him to adopt her daughter Lexi
After realising Ben might not be up to the job when she was gone, Lola and Jay arrived to tell Ben of their plan.
A fuming Ben shouted: ‘If you try to take her away, I’m warning you, if you try you will have a big fight on your hands’
While Callum asked if Jay really needed to adopt Lexi to be one of her parents, Ben raged at the bombshell, with a huge custody battle looming.
It comes after Zack shared his HIV diagnosis with the entire Square on Monday’s episode of EastEnders, after being goaded over pulling out of a fight with Ben Mitchell.
He was feeling a lot more positive after talking to Sharon and Martin about his recent diagnosis.
However, Ben was dealing with his own trauma after learning his rapist Lewis had been arrested once again, and rather than opening up he threw all of his aggression into the boxing match.
Looking for a fight with Zack afterwords in the pub, Ben said: ‘You are nothing, you’ve never lived. Good job you never got to be a dad because you would be useless’
Finally, Zack snapped and shouted: ‘I’m not going to fight you because I have HIV. I’m HIV positive’
While times have certainly changed around those who are HIV positive, upcoming scenes will prove some old viewpoints remain, as Zack faces a mixed reaction from punters when he shares his health battle.
Last month the show’s viewers praised the character for telling Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) he was HIV positive.
Zack had been struggling to let his ex know of his status as he feared how she would react.
The pair were left devastated by the death of their little girl earlier weeks earlier, after doctors revealed she had Edwards’ Syndrome.
They are no longer together but Zack decided to finally tell Whitney of his diagnosis.
While Whitney struggled to instantly accept Zack’s news, viewers took to Twitter to praise his handling of the situation, with many insisting Whitney could have handled things differently.
Looking for a fight with Zack afterwords in the pub, Ben said: ‘You are nothing, you’ve never lived. Good job you never got to be a dad because you would be useless’
Struggling: Ben was dealing with his own trauma after learning his rapist Lewis had been arrested once again, and rather than opening up he threw all of his aggression into the boxing match
One person wrote: ‘I hope Whitney accepts that Zack’s HIV diagnosis and helps him through it, these days on treatment your levels become undetectable and can’t be transmitted.’
Another viewer tweeted: ‘Proud of Zack for telling Whitney about the HIV! I get that she was hurt he never told her, but I didn’t like the way Whitney reacted though.’
Someone else posted: ‘I’m glad Zack has finally told Whitney the truth. I wish she wasn’t taking it so badly. I think he didn’t tell her before bc he feels ashamed of how he got it, & he was being like his own enemy! He’ll feel dejected now. The HIV didn’t make any difference to the baby!’
‘Zack finally being honest with Whitney about the HIV,’ wrote another viewer along with a smiling face emoji.
Unimpressed by Whitney’s reaction, one person wrote: ‘Whitney hasn’t considered Zack’s feelings in this having HIV.’
Whitney was upset Zack had not told her about his HIV status, questioning him on whether it had affected the health of their late baby.
When he insisted it hadn’t and he’d had confirmation from the doctors, she was angry he had spoken to them behind her back without telling her.
Earlier in the episode, Zack was seen meeting with a doctor who told him once his medication had brought his viral load to an undetectable level, he would not be able to pass HIV on.
He was advised to use protection during sex and was told any partners could consider going on PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), medication which can reduce the chance of getting HIV from sex or injection drug use when taken as prescribed.
Zack told Whitney of his diagnosis, explaining it happened after he used needles to inject steroids in the past.
Unable to handle the news at the time, Whitney was shocked and asked him to leave her home.
Praise: Last month the show’s viewers praised the character for telling Whitney Dean ( Shona McGarty ) he was HIV positive
Zack was seen starting his HIV medication in January as he was consumed with guilt over keeping Whitney in the dark about his condition.
He has been overwhelmed with shame about his HIV diagnosis and at first kept it to himself, only telling part of his problems to his sister Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean).
Call THT Direct on 0808 802 1221 for HIV support or email info@tht.org.uk
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
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