EastEnders’ Penny Branning (Kitty Castledine) has been hiding the truth about her unborn baby’s real father for months, believing her future lies with Vinny Panesar (Shiv Jalota). But when cracks appear in their relationship next week, Vinny takes action to commit to Penny, unaware of the agony ahead.
Earlier this year, Penny was shocked to learn her pregnancy was further along than she first thought, ruling Vinny out as the father. It was later revealed that Penny had a secret fling with former flame Harry Mitchell (Elijah Holloway) before Christmas. Penny considered her options, but with Harry now in a relationship with her best mate Gina Knight (Francesca Henry), and Vinny being a reliable partner, she decided to keep the secret.
However, Harry’s mother Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington) worked out the truth and gave Penny an ultimatum: take a DNA test or she would tell everyone. Panicked, Penny had her cousin Oscar Branning (Pierre Counihan-Moullier) fake the test result, which convinced Nicola. Since then, Penny’s pregnancy has been going well, but next week Vinny feels pushed out of their parenting journey.
After a birth-plan appointment where Vinny feels sidelined, he decides to talk to Penny about his feelings. During their conversation, Vinny declares his commitment to Penny and ‘their’ unborn child by asking her to move in with him. Penny agrees, which excites Vinny, but she secretly worries about telling Gina she is moving out. However, the baby bombshell she is hiding is bound to explode.
EastEnders airs these scenes from Monday 15th June at 7.30pm on BBC One or stream first from 6am on iPlayer.
