EastEnders airs violent showdown between Cindy and Kathy in early BBC iPlayer release

Spoiler warning for Thursday 30th May 2024.

An epic showdown between longtime rivals Michelle Collins’s character Cindy Beale and Gillian Taylforth’s character Kathy Cotton has aired on EastEnders.

In recent weeks, Cindy on the BBC One soap opera has been drawn back to her ex-husband George Knight (Colin Salmon). However, drama recently erupted in that relationship when his fiancée Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) discovered a kiss between them.

Additionally, Elaine disclosed the kiss to Cindy’s long-suffering ex-husband Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), who was Cindy’s partner. She then told George what she had done.

But before George told Cindy that Ian knew what had happened, Ian continued as usual and pretended nothing had happened.

In Thursday’s installment, Cindy confronted a smug Ian about the kiss. He asked her if that was all there had been, and when she said yes, he responded that he wanted to move on and that their relationship wasn’t worth ending. Cindy appeared a little let down that Ian chose not to argue with her further about the disclosure.

However, when Ian was by himself with his mother Kathy, he broke down and acknowledged what had happened, but he also said that because of his age and health, he felt he would be alone without Cindy.

He acknowledged that Cindy makes him think of the couple’s late daughter Lucy Beale and that he is happy when they are together when Kathy reminded him that this was not a good reason to continue dating.

Following her treatment of Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa), Cindy tried to speak with her son Peter Beale (Thomas Law) on Bridge Street. She then attempted to speak with her daughters Gina (Francesca Henry) and Anna Knight (Molly Rainford).

But before Kathy could say anything more, she stormed up to Cindy and declared, “Once a slapper, always a slapper!”

Then Kathy gave Cindy a slap across her left cheek, causing the Knight girls to gasp. Gina stopped Cindy from hitting her former mother-in-law when she raised her arm to do so.

Kathy went on: “Come on gents, form an orderly queue, it looks like she’s open for business again!”

While Cindy might have Ian under control, Kathy was not, and she called Cindy a “gold-digging little tart with morals as loose as her underwear!” as Cindy implied that Kathy didn’t comprehend the situation.

Kathy apologized to Gina and Anna as Anna jumped in to defend her mother, but she also mentioned how much pain Cindy still causes everyone and said that it would be in Ian’s best interest for her to pack up and go. Before the Knight girls left, Kathy left, leaving Cindy dissatisfied with her behavior.

Upstairs in the Queen Bic, an amused Elaine was observed assessing the scene and grinned when Cindy looked up and made eye contact.

As Cindy was tending to her wound at Beale’s Eels, Junior Knight (Micah Balfour), the son of George, approached her and inquired about the circumstances. He then offered to assist in resolving the issues with Gina and Anna.

Later, at Peggy’s, Junior mediated a meeting between the girls and their mother, but the girls were driven away again by their mother’s similar justifications and disregard for Elaine.

Before Cindy went back home, she had a clear sexual tension with Junior on the way home from the chip shop, during which she thanked him for standing up for her today.

Is Cindy going to have a whole new affair soon? Will she be successful when she makes a desperate move for George again the following week?

For the other Beales today, Peter made love declarations to Lauren and then locked lips with her, while Kathy eventually returned to the cafe following her death and Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) sold it back to her for £1.

Are they both starting over with this?