EastEnders has revealed Stacey Slater and Jack Branning have started a steamy affair, just days before a shocking death rocks the Square.
After weeks of sexual tension, Stacey and Jack finally gave in to their desires and kissed in Thursday's episode, leaving viewers gasping in horror.
The twist comes as fans count down the days until they discover the identity of the man who will meet his maker on Christmas Day – in the epic conclusion to the long-running story of The Six.
As Jack's marriage to his wife Denise Fox appeared to be over, Stacey turned to the detective for help following the disappearance of her best friend Eve.
Jack also tried to reassure Stacey that she was not in the sights of her stalker Theo, insisting he had left Walford for good.
EastEnders has revealed Stacey Slater and Jack Branning have started a steamy affair, just days before a shocking death rocks the Square
Later, Stacey tried to cheer Jack up with an evening of pizza and wine, but things took a turn when the pair kissed.
The heated scenes stunned many viewers, with some fearing for Jack's future, with just days until his ceremonial death.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, one posted: “Stacey and Jack oh god no.”
Another added: “Well I guess today is the beginning for #Jacey (or #Stack). In my opinion, Denise deserves better, so she is not on the losing side of this turn of events. Stacey tries her third Branning.”
“I don't even watch EastEnders properly anymore but Stacey's collection of Branning men like infinity stones is my favorite thing ever,” a third posted.
After the scenes aired, actor Scott Maslen hinted that this was anything but a hot one-off for Jack and Stacey.
He said: “There must really be feelings there, because you don’t do something like that without there being feelings.”
“All roads point to that too, so there was a lot of tension, a lot of stress, a lot of factors that led to this point and misunderstandings.” Reading between the lines and thinking that something is something even though it isn't , you get to the point where you-know-what begins to falter. [Laughs]
After weeks of sexual tension, Stacey and Jack finally gave in to their desires and kissed in Thursday's episode, leaving viewers gasping in horror
The heated scenes stunned many viewers, with some fearing for Jack's future, with just days until his ceremonial death
“Is it to be expected? Was it something that would happen in Jack's eyes? Absolutely not, but this is EastEnders.'
When asked if Jack could be the mysterious man who meets his maker on Christmas Day, Scott added: “It could well be.” The journeys of everyone involved in this story take different paths. That's the exciting thing.
“What you expect from characters, they break their character traits.” Things happen that make you say, “Wait a minute, what's going on here?” and “Why are they acting like that?”
“You’ll see a lot of characters that you think you know and recognize doing things that you don’t.”
“The complexity of the plot brings out character traits that aren't common to audiences. “You'll see people go to new places.”
EastEnders continues on Monday at 7.30pm on BBC One. Episodes will be released on BBC iPlayer at 6am that day.