“Maybe it would be best if you weren’t around for a while.”

Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) manipulated poor Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) into leaving Walford in tonight’s EastEnders (26th March 2024), as he played on her suspicions over his own disgusting behaviour.

With Jean questioning how Dean’s daughter Jade Masood (Elizabeth Green) has become so ill, Dean lied that the teen had been skipping her antibiotics. But Jade’s determination to get better, coupled with her confusion that the pills weren’t working, left Jean even more baffled.

Dean caught Jean just as she realised that Jade’s tablets were empty at evil Dean’s hand, but he accused her of hurting Jade herself!

Jean challenged Dean over this, but he continued to act out his warped version of recent events, even using the time an unwell Jean gave granddaughter Lily (Lillia Turner) her bipolar medication to convince her that she had made a huge mistake with Jade’s antibiotics.

Stunned and shaken, Jean left the flat, only to look in her bag and find the empty pills she had previously found, strengthening Dean’s claim that she was responsible for his own sick plan to keep Jade unwell.

In McKlunky’s, Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman) caught up with Jean, who confided that she knew she had been permanently distracted by Jade recently, and had experienced bouts of confusion.

Harvey admitted he had seen Jean in a state of exhaustion lately, and that she sometimes didn’t know where she was.

At the Slater’s, Dean visited, showing Jean the interview he had done on Jade’s illness, hinting that another article would be written about Jade’s collapse – which he made clear he held Jean responsible for.

“Maybe it’s best if you weren’t around for a bit,” suggested Dean.

Jean took his words on board, and packed to leave for Little Mo’s (Kacey Ainsworth) for a break. But as Dean watched her climb into a cab, Harvey clocked the look on his face as he ensured Jean made her exit. Will Harvey expose Dean’s actions while Jean is away?