EastEnders' George Knight disowns adoptive parents after double bombshell

In a powerful extended episode this week, George discovered that Eddie and his friends had beaten a Black man named Henry to death over 40 years ago.

Not only did George realise that he had actually witnessed the harrowing event as a teen, he also learned that Henry was his biological father.

With Eddie's true racist nature coming to light, George was broken as the BBC soap returned. In the Boxing Den, George sparred with teen Denzel Danes (Jaden Ladega) in the ring, but his inner turmoil caused him to push Denzel too far.

George's fiancée Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) made him see how he was behaving, and George felt terrible, worrying he was turning into Eddie. Elaine assured George this was not the case, and he broke down in her arms.

Meanwhile, with Gloria showing up at The Vic intent on explaining herself to George, she sought him out at the gym.

Alone with Gloria, George listened as she described her love for him as her own child, and she insisted she had only wanted Eddie to scare Henry away so they could keep George with them.

But George pointed out that Henry had come looking for him, and Gloria must have known for all these years that Eddie had murdered him.

Gloria issued a heartfelt apology, but George raged that she had been the one to incite Eddie to carry out his vile crime.

"His name was Henry Kofi Asare – he was my father. But I didn't get to know him, because he's dead. And now, you are dead to me too," George declared.

Adding that Eddie had no chance of earning his character witness statement in court, George told Gloria he never wanted to see either of them again. Can he ever move on from his horrific discoveries?

If you have been affected by the issues in this article surrounding racism and hate crime, please visit the website Stop Hate UK for independent and confidential support to people affected by hate crime, including confidential hate crime reporting services in various parts of the UK. For more support, see BBC Action Line.

Read more:

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• EastEnders cast: Who is joining, leaving and returning to the soap?
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• Linda Robson reveals talk with EastEnders producer about joining soap
• EastEnders’ Charlie Suff on 'new' Johnny Carter: "He's all grown up and not to be messed with"

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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