EastEnders star Natalie Cassidy has explained why Sonia sticks by Reiss ahead of their arrest drama.

Scenes airing next week will see the walls start to close in on Reiss following the recent murder of his comatose wife Debbie amid his desperate financial situation – Sonia unaware of what he’s done.

Ahead of the arrest, scenes next week will see Reiss face Phil as the deadline to pay him back approaches.

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Opening up about her character’s feelings towards Reiss amid a tumultuous few weeks, Natalie revealed: “Sonia loves Reiss and thinks he’s a really good man. Yes, he gets himself in sticky situations, but he always manages to explain himself to her afterwards.

“She knows he has a tendency to dig himself into bigger and bigger holes, and Sonia does get frustrated with Reiss for that, but she’s standing by him.”

“Sonia’s main drive in life now is to have her baby and make a family with Reiss,” she added. “If they hadn’t had the IVF journey together, I think Sonia might have told Reiss where to go after one too many lies

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“There have been so many lies, but she’s so dead set on having this family that Sonia is just going with it.”

The actor also explained that the gossip in Albert Square around the couple “makes Sonia even more protective of her family unit”, and “as far as Sonia’s concerned, what’s going on with them is nobody else’s business”.

“The rest of the Square don’t know the full story. They are just gossip-mongering, and so she tells them where to go. Sonia fronts it out and defends Reiss to the hilt.”

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Natalie said that Kathy’s engagement party for Sonia “really touches her”, and while she is happy to be engaged, “nothing is ever simple with Reiss”.

“It’s such a shame because right now all Sonia just wants is to nest, enjoy being engaged and being in this early stage of pregnancy, and just have a quiet life.”

Amid his debt to Phil, Sonia later learns through Sharon that Teddy has taken on the debt, which is “a big disappointment to Sonia”.

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“She keeps finding out these bits and pieces from other people, not Reiss,” Natalie noted. “Sonia ends up confronting him at the baby scan.”

Later on at the engagement party, things take an unexpected turn, the star explaining: “Sonia is having a really nice time, but then the police turn up.

“To her, it seems whatever she does, something rains on her parade. There’s a shock when the police tell them Debbie has been murdered, and they both get arrested.”