EastEnders’ Lily’s baby secret exposed as Jack vents his rage

By Laura Denby

Published: Tuesday, 24 January 2023 at 12:00 am

Lily Slater’s (Lillia Turner) pregnancy was finally exposed to the wider community in tonight’s EastEnders (24th January), and it’s safe to say the news did not go down well with one of the grandparents-to-be, Jack Branning (Scott Maslen).

The youngster revealed she would be keeping her baby earlier this week, much to the shock of horrified dad Martin Fowler (James Bye). Now aware that Jack’s son, Ricky Jr (Frankie Day), is the father, Martin warned Lily that his family would have to be told and the police informed – all in a bid to make her change her mind.

Terrified, Lily rushed to tell Ricky herself, and the young boy ran away in fear. When Ricky Jr bumped into mum Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf), he blurted out what was going on.

Sam was stunned as she tried to comfort him, but chose the wrong moment to reveal that she’s moving to Germany. Later, Sam told Jack and Denise Fox (Diane Parish) that Ricky Jr was going to be a dad.

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Lillia Turner as Lily Slater and Frankie Day as Ricky Mitchell in EastEnders.
BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron

Jack was certain this was a sick joke, but as the truth dawned on him he headed straight over to the Slaters’, where he enraged Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) by accusing Lily of pressuring his son into sex, before insisting that she must have an abortion. Jack stormed off when Martin told him that he was standing by Lily’s decision.

Martin’s change of heart came when he confided in ex-wife Sonia (Natalie Cassidy). The pair were only 15 when they became parents to daughter Bex, and Martin recalled his shock at the time as even Sonia hadn’t known she was pregnant.

When he asked Sonia why he couldn’t make Lily’s decision for her, she urged him to see that he would only push Lily away by doing so.

 

So back at the Slaters, Martin apologised to Lily for trying to stand in her way, and promised to be there for her from now on.

As for Ricky Jr, he couldn’t get his head around the possibility that he might face criminal charges, and he was fuming with Sam for telling Jack everything. But as Sam took her son out, they had a frank chat, as Ricky worried that he wouldn’t love his baby – like Sam couldn’t love him.