Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) reaches breaking point in EastEnders next week as another difficult week takes its toll, leading him to walk out on wife Denise Fox (Diane Parish). The couple have been struggling ever since Denise’s cancer diagnosis, and things only become more complicated in the coming episodes as they both deal with more heartbreak.
Denise struggles to open up
Denise continues to find it difficult to open up to Jack, despite everything they’ve been through together. While she’s trying to process her own emotions, Jack is also hit with more bad news when he’s told to take compassionate leave from work. To make matters worse, he’s informed that his colleague Craig will be taking over his current police case while he’s away, leaving Jack feeling even more frustrated as life continues to spiral out of his control.
Phil Mitchell offers advice
As the pressure builds, Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) steps in with some much-needed advice, encouraging Jack as he tries to support Denise while dealing with his own emotions. Meanwhile, Denise heads back to the hospital, where she’s given food for thought. After everything she’s been keeping bottled up, she finally opens up about the death of her friend. However, instead of bringing the couple closer together, the conversation exposes just how much Jack has been holding back himself.
Jack walks out
Unable to properly express how he’s feeling, Jack reaches his limit and walks out, leaving Denise devastated. Thankfully, it’s not the end of the road for the couple. Later in the week, Denise and Jack finally have the honest conversation they’ve both needed, opening up to one another and managing to get their relationship back on track. But their relief is short-lived. Just as things begin looking more positive, Jack receives a call from the police about Joel’s attack, bringing another worrying development to his door.
Emotional week for the families
The latest drama comes after an emotional few days for the Branning and Fox families. This week, Denise returned home from the hospital while keeping a heartbreaking secret from those closest to her after learning her chemotherapy hadn’t been as successful as doctors had hoped. Despite trying to settle back into family life, she found herself struggling, with Jack growing jealous after spotting her talking to Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara). Things then went from bad to worse when Denise returned to the hospital and discovered that a close friend had died.
Libby supports Denise
Back on Albert Square, Libby Fox (Belinda Owusu) did her best to support her mum, but Denise faced another difficult shock when she came face-to-face with Sheila, the great-grandmother of Chelsea Fox’s son Jordan and grandmother of imprisoned killer Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith). Although Denise eventually heard Sheila out after the pair bonded over their experiences with cancer, she later made it clear she wanted her to stay away from the family, fearing she still had contact with Gray.
Denise admits chemotherapy failure
Meanwhile, Denise also finally admitted to Jack that her chemotherapy treatment wasn’t working as doctors had hoped, but insisted he keep the news from the rest of the family as she focused on organising Libby’s leaving party. With emotions still running high, next week proves the road ahead won’t be an easy one for Denise and Jack as they try to navigate yet another setback together.
