By Laura Denby

Published: Thursday, 12 January 2023 at 12:00 am

---

**Warning: This article contains discussion of self-harm which some readers may find upsetting.**

Denise Fox (Diane Parish) was left tempted by Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) in tonight’s EastEnders (12th January) as her marriage troubles worsened.

Denise’s stepdaughter Amy Mitchell (Ellie Dadd) has been struggling with self-harm, and Amy’s father – Denise’s husband Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) – isn’t interested in any of his wife’s attempts to help. This, as well as Jack’s lack of time for her, has left Denise feeling neglected.

Scenes airing at the end of last year showed Denise successfully reaching out to support Amy but this week, Amy hinted to worried friend Denzel Danes (Jaden Ladega) that she had started hurting herself again.

Denzel and Amy bunked off school together, and Denzel hoped to convince Amy to seek help again. But when Denzel’s dad Howie (Delroy Atkinson) got a call from the school, he alerted Denise to the fact that both his son and Amy had skipped lessons.

The pair found the teens, and Denise followed Amy home and tried to talk to her. But Amy revealed that she had heard Denise telling Jack to give the kids more space and to spend more time with her, and the youngster used this to suggest that Denise didn’t care about her. Denise was hurt, and Amy shouted that she was self-harming again just as Jack walked in.

Horrified, Jack rejected Denise’s efforts to calmly deal with the situation and blamed her for telling him to give Amy breathing space. Predictably, Jack decided the best course of action was to keep an eye on Amy 24/7. As he railed against Denise, she left the house and ended up at Peggy’s bar.

There, she bumped into Ravi, who was grateful after Denise spoke up for him in front of the Panesars earlier in the week. The pair got drunk together, giggling as Ravi later walked her home. But when he went in for a kiss, Denise immediately dodged him and questioned what he was doing, leaving him alone in the street.

Arriving home, Denise suddenly turned towards the door as if reconsidering her decision over Ravi. But before she could do anything about it, Jack greeted her. She lied that she had been with sister Kim Fox (Tameka Empson), and Jack apologised for how he had behaved.

As the couple hugged, it was clear that Denise was doubting her future with Jack and feeling intrigued about Ravi’s interest in her. Will she pursue an affair?

EastEnders has worked closely with Alumina, Mind and Samaritans to portray Amy’s storyline as realistically and sensitively as possible. For support and information on matters raised within this article, visit BBC Action Line.