EastEnders’ Ross Marshall (Alex Walkinshaw) will be staggered when he discovers the truth about Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig) and Zack Hudson’s (James Farrar) affair on his wedding day. The revelation comes at the worst possible moment, as Ross and Vicki prepare to tie the knot in front of their loved ones in scenes airing from Monday.
Zack’s Jealousy Sparks Trouble
Ahead of the wedding, a jealous Zack causes trouble by giving Vicki a bracelet, hoping she will wear it to show he still matters. However, Vicki refuses the gift. When Ross later finds Zack sulking, Zack begins to drip poison into Ross’s ear, hinting that Vicki might be cheating again. Actress Alice Haig, who plays Vicki, explains: “We see Zack doing something cruel to both Vicki and Ross, where he starts to influence Ross’s mind. That really starts to make Ross paranoid.”
Ross’s Growing Doubts
Over the course of the week, Ross experiences a slow, creeping doubt. “It comes from a feeling when somebody cheated on you in the past, a sort of unease about the way things are going,” Haig adds. On the wedding day, Vicki is unsettled by Ross’s muted mood, which worsens when Zack again questions whether Ross is doing the right thing by going through with the wedding.
Slowly, things start to dawn on Ross. “If you factor that into a few conversations he has on the morning of the wedding, where people who know about the affair respond in a slightly strange way, two and two start to add up to four,” Haig says.
The Big Reveal at the Altar
As Vicki arrives at the marquee ready to walk down the aisle, Ross has a huge realisation and asks outright if Zack was the man she slept with. Haig describes the reveal: “I think it’s so brilliantly done because the whole way leading up to that moment, we’re expecting it to be revealed by Zack, or maybe one of the people on the Square who know now. Then we realise that it’s Ross who works it out at the altar. At that moment, it’s a huge panic, but you’ll have to wait and see how she responds.”
Will Vicki be able to lie her way out of the situation, or has she lost Ross for good? Haig hopes there is a future for the couple: “I think that Ross is the right person for her, but Joel is a real thorn in the side of their relationship, and it’s very difficult to see how they can properly move forward. Hopefully they can. It’s a hard choice because she does fancy Zack, of course!”
EastEnders airs these scenes from Monday 25th May at 7:30pm on BBC One or stream first from 6am on iPlayer.
