Their marriage is on even shakier ground after Ben’s betrayal.
Callum Highway (Tony Clay) faces a big decision about the future of his marriage in EastEnders, in the aftermath of husband Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) sharing a kiss with Lewis Butler (Aidan O’Callaghan) in recent scenes.
This is the latest in a a long line of problems between the couple, who have been growing distant for some time since they were targeted in a brutal homophobic attack at the start of the year.
Ben was left traumatised by the sight of Callum being beaten, terrified he was about to witness history repeating itself after his first boyfriend Paul Coker (Jonny Labey) was killed in a hate crime in 2016. This led to Ben becoming a shell of his former out and proud self, as he insisted he wanted to hide his gay identity in public.
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In contrast, Callum refused to stop embracing who he was and became the face of the police’s LGBT+ campaign. In recent weeks, Ben has been taking matters into his own hands, attacking homophobic men in the street. Ben then mistook nephew Peter Beale (Dayle Hudson) for another man, and lashed out at him.
As Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) refused to keep this a secret any longer, he revealed all to Callum, as well as Ben’s mum Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth).
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Callum was horrified, particularly when Ben showed no remorse for his crimes. Ben ended up confiding in The Albert manager Lewis, who supported his stance. The pair then shared a drunken kiss, which was witnessed by Callum.
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As the BBC soap picks up the story in upcoming episodes, Callum remains hurt by Ben’s betrayal, alongside trying to cope with the knowledge of his spouse’s other activities. Ben insists the kiss meant nothing, but Callum can’t take it any more and decides to break things off between them.
But as Lewis steps in to talk to Callum, it seems he will have a change of heart as he present Ben with the keys to their new flat. Callum then tells Ben not to see Lewis again, and says he won’t tell the police anything either – but only if nothing like this ever happens again.
Despite the turnaround, Callum is still struggling later in the week. Lewis approaches Ben and tells him his husband needs to get over it – but it’s thanks to some advice from friend Frankie Lewis (Rose Ayling-Ellis) that Callum is able to start moving on properly, suggesting to Ben that they go for a drink.
Meanwhile, Peter continues to suffer in the wake of his injuries, and is spooked by someone entering the house. Using a frying pan to assault the intruder, Peter then discovers it’s Rocky Cotton (Brian Conley). Rocky tries to help Peter, making up flyers offering a cash reward to find his attacker. With Kathy well aware that Ben is responsible, she is shaken and warns her son.
Will Ben be publicly unmasked as the violent attacker? And can his marriage to Callum survive the constant strain of his reckless behaviour?
EastEnders airs these scenes from Monday 16th May.
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