EastEnders’ Denise confronts Ravi as he dates Chelsea after rejection

By Laura Denby

Published: Wednesday, 18 January 2023 at 12:00 am

Denise Fox (Diane Parish) confronted Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) in tonight’s EastEnders (18th January), as he dated her daughter Chelsea (Zaraah Abrahams) after being rejected by the former last week.

With Denise feeling sidelined in her marriage to Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), she enjoyed a drink with Ravi in recent scenes. But when Ravi made a pass at her, Denise immediately told him there was no chance of anything happening between them.

However, it was clear to viewers that she was rather tempted! In the aftermath of the incident, though, Denise was awkward as she tried to clear the air with Ravi. She was embarrassed that she had moaned about her husband, explaining her words away as typical of every marriage with its ups and downs.

Ravi promised not to say anything to Jack, and Denise breathed a sigh of relief – but unfortunately, this wasn’t to last.

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Zaraah Abrahams as Chelsea Fox in EastEnders.

Later, Ravi spotted Chelsea struggling with delivery boxes outside Peggy’s bar, as she was rushing to make it to Whitney Dean’s (Shona McGarty) baby scan on time. Ravi did the chivalrous thing and stepped in to help, carrying the boxes for her.

As a thank you, Chelsea made a date to meet Ravi at the newly re-opened Queen Vic, but was surprised when she arrived to find him with a chilled bottle of bubbly.

Still, she enjoyed their time together, and Ravi was impressed when he witnessed Chelsea giving Zack Hudson (James Farrar) a piece of her mind over his abandonment of Whitney – with everyone currently oblivious to what Zack is really going through.

But when Denise was alerted to the fact that Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) had taken the pub’s keys, which had been left in her possession, she rocked up to restore order – only to find her daughter with Ravi.

Ravi continued on with his evening, walking the oblivious Chelsea home as they flirted and planned a second date. But after they said goodbye, a nearby Denise approached and instructed Ravi to leave Chelsea alone.

Ravi replied that he would date whoever he liked, leaving Denise helpless. But is Ravi simply using poor Chelsea, or might he really be interested in her? And how does Denise really feel about him?