Jack is in the list of potential men who might perish this festive season so will his romance with Stacey lead to his downfall? (Picture: BBC)

Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) has done the unthinkable in EastEnders, cheating on Denise Fox (Diane Parish) with Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) after weeks of flirting.

The detective, as viewers know, has found himself drawn to Stacey, who has been through a lot this year following her ordeal at the hands of stalker Theo Hawthorne (William Ellis).

Despite Theo being behind bars, Stacey struggled to come to terms with what she went through, with Jack quick to offer support, leaving her feeling safe and protected whenever he’s around.

The two have been dancing around the chemistry between them until Thursday (December 14) when one thing led to another, with the pair succumbing to their desires and sharing a passionate kiss.

Discussing the storyline development, Jack star Scott Maslen said: ‘There’s genuinely got to be some feelings there because you don’t do things like that without their being feelings.

Jack came to Stacey’s aid – and one thing led to another (Picture: BBC / Jack Barnes / Kieron McCarron)

‘All roads point towards this as well, so there’s been a lot of tension, a lot of stress, a lot of contributing factors that have led to this point and miscommunications.

‘Reading between the lines and thinking something is something when it isn’t, and it gets to the point where the you-know-what hits the fan. Is it expected? Is it something that was going to happen in Jack’s eyes? Definitely not, but that’s EastEnders.’

The big question here is: just how will Denise react when she finds out about her hubby’s betrayal?

There has been conflict aplenty between the married couple in recent months, following Denise’s tryst with Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara), but actor Scott insists that Jack’s actions in the latest edition of the soap are not a ‘retaliation’ to Denise’s betrayal.

How will Denise react to the betrayal? (Picture: BBC / Jack Barnes / Kieron McCarron)

‘Denise didn’t sleep with [Ravi], but Jack’s the sort of person where a kiss is just as bad, maybe worse, said the soap star. ‘I think he has had that in his mind constantly, and he hasn’t dealt with the Ravi thing properly yet, and that’s just one of the elements that goes towards why he sleeps with Stacey.

‘It is a big one, but as people will find out, it gets complicated and muddied. I don’t think he’s forgiven Denise.

‘I think he’s in a desperate place. I don’t think you’re thinking about saving a marriage when it’s falling apart. You realise it’s falling apart so you’re more focused on that, and it seems to be the dominant factor.

‘If Denise was showing signs that she wanted it to work, then maybe he’d see those signs and he’d react accordingly but he’s seeing it constantly deteriorate, so there’s only so much he can do. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink so I think he thinks that’s what is happening in his relationship, and it’s literally at its end.

‘But he is holding on, because he does love the family, he loves the kids, and it’s a structure which is safe, and he is all about that because his life has been thrown all over the place before. He’s in a very unstable place right now.’

Jack, as fans will know, is one of seven men who might perish on Christmas Day, with a historic flashforward scene confirming a tragedy over the festive season. But could Jack’s infidelity lead him to winding up dead?

Could he be the body?

‘He could well be,’ exclaimed Scott. ‘All the journeys of everyone involved in this story go all different ways. That’s what’s exciting. What you expect characters to be, they break their character traits.

‘There’s things going on where you go “hang on a minute what’s going on here?” and “why are they behaving like that?” You’re going to see a lot of characters that you think you know and recognise, do things that you don’t. The complexities of the storyline brings out traits in the characters that aren’t common to the audience. They’re going to see people going to new places.’

How intriguing!

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One. Stream episodes first from 6am on BBC iPlayer. 

If you’ve got a soap or TV story, video or pictures get in touch by emailing us [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you.

Join the community by leaving a comment below and stay updated on all things soaps on our homepage.

MORE : EastEnders spoilers: A marriage in crisis, murder trauma and fresh agony for Linda

MORE : EastEnders spoilers: Sharon Watts and Linda Carter both make shocking discoveries about each other ahead of murder

Follow Metro across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Share your views in the comments below

Scott Maslen had addressed the shocking plot twist and what it means for the future.