When Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) expressed her concern for Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman) over his lack of friends in EastEnders, things quickly changed when he connected with a lady called

Maya.

She is played by Bharti Patel, best known for her role as midwife Ruhma in BBC One’s Doctors.

They started to get on quite well and when Harvey realised he had lost the phone number of his new mate, he asked Tommy Moon (Sonny Kendall) to try and find Maya online.

However, Maya then arrived in Walford, she was furious with Harvey for going through her social media. He apologised and invited her for a drink.

There, Maya told Harvey that her husband died last year and as they continued chatting, the new friends bonded further.

Just as Maya left, Harvey realised she had forgotten her hat. He went online to find her social media platform, hoping to send her a message, only to discover it had been deleted.

In upcoming episodes of the BBC One soap, Harvey and Maya go for lunch after Maya is stood up by a friend.

The conversation quickly turns sour though, as Harvey opens up about his son Aaron’s criminal past.

In the week, Harvey worries that he’s lost Maya as a friend because she’s stopped responding to his texts.

Elsewhere though, we see Maya looking up details relating to Aaron’s previous criminal history.Back in 2021, Aaron was involved in a far-right gang who targeted numerous people in racial hate crimes. One of their victims was a taxi driver called Mr Hussain, who thankfully survived the incident, but was left seriously injured.

After tipping Harvey for dropping her back off in Albert Square, Maya – who’s surname is Hussain – confirmed that her husband used to be a cabby, sparking suspicion from fans that he may have been the man Harvey’s son attacked.

Taking to social media, one fan wondered if Maya was plotting revenge after what happened to him.

Aaron has since been sent to prison in Newcastle for attempting to plant a bomb in the disused Argee Bhajee, but could Maya be keen to get justice herself?