Has Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington) made a deal with the devil in EastEnders?
It’s been a difficult week for the matriarch, who was facing losing her beloved nightclub Harry’s Barn after failing to keep up with the mortgage repayments.
This is, in part, due to the premature birth of her daughter Ivy, but also because she had to cough up the cash to send eldest son Harry (Elijah Holloway) to rehab.
To add to her financial struggles, she’s also had five members of her estranged family move into No. 1 Albert Square over the last month.
Realising how close the business was to folding, the Hawkins clan banded together earlier this week to raise some cash.
Gemma Hawkins (Patricia Potter) had hoped that a party to celebrate Davinder “Nugget” Gulati’s (Juhaim Rasul Choudhury) 18th birthday would bring in the 25k needed, though they were still at a shortfall. Rose Hawkins (Marian McLoughlin), meanwhile, invited Yolande Trueman’s (Angela Wynter) bible study group to a fundraiser for a donkey sanctuary.
Gemma was more honest with the Walford neighbours, telling Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig) and Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) about Nic’s plight.
When they arrived at the venue, they quickly realised that Jodie Hawkins (Anna Constable) had told a series of lies and claimed that the night was in benefit of several fictional charities.
Just as the punters were about to leave, Ryder Hawkins (Felix Uff) brought in swathes of rowdy stag and hen do attendees. But there was another issue – Nic’ had ran out of alcohol.
When she returned home, having seemingly accepted her fate, Ned Hawkins (Jamie Bamber) dropped a bombshell. He said that he’d been able to recover some money from an old business associate, Adam, and was able to help her out.
She was unnerved by the idea of accepting his help, and when he reminded that he could trust her – given they’d kept a secret for the last 20 years. Nicola looked horrified.
In today’s episode, she firmly told Ned that she wasn’t able to accept his offer. The fact he could so carelessly bring up their secret had spooked her, and she didn’t know whether he would use it to his advantage.
Ned promised that he’d keep quiet, and when broaching the subject of his money again, asked whether she would give him half of the club. Nic’ said that she was going to have a word with the debt collector, hoping that he’d give her some grace time.
During their meeting, it seemed that Nicola had struck gold. The bailiff agreed that he’d speak to his superior about her paying them back in instalments, but couldn’t make a promise.
When he left, he ran into Ned – who persuaded him to go back on his deal with Nicola.
Ultimately, she was left with no other option than to take his cash and make him shareholder in Harry’s Barn. The two then sat down to discuss the long-buried secret: and it’s a big one!
Two decades ago, Nicola was the one who drove her dad off the road, killing him. Ned didn’t have to get involved, but found himself in a position to protect the truth from outing.
This is EastEnders, so it will inevitably be revealed. But when will that be?
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