EastEnders airs Cindy Beale blackmail twist in early iPlayer release

There was a ceasefire of hostilities between Cindy and Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) when Lauren went into labour, and the ambulance was facing an hour's delay.

Cindy took Lauren to the hospital in a cab, having bumped into Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams) who raised the alarm with Cindy's son, father-to-be Peter Beale (Thomas Law).

Peter had been drinking at their engagement party and so, with he and his relatives unable to drive to the hospital, it took far too long for him to reach his fiancée's side.

Step forward unlikely midwife Cindy, who helped Lauren through labour as she feared for the baby's health after her painkiller addiction.

With Lauren taking a prescribed, ongoing course of methadone, she asked the midwife if everything was ready to help if the little one was poorly.

But Cindy proved a good distraction as she tried to explain all her recent behaviour, making a guilty Lauren feel better about her own situation in a gloriously camp moment:

"You didn't try to kill Ian Beale – twice!" Cindy pointed out.

"What?!" Lauren exclaimed through her screams of pain. "When was the second time?"

Cindy revealed that she had gone after Ian (Adam Woodyatt) after finding out that Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth) had tried to kill her at Christmas.

Not long after, baby Beale was born, and after a worrying few seconds, the baby boy let out a piercing cry and Lauren held him, just as Peter arrived.

The baby's name was unveiled to Ian and Kathy: he would be called Jimmy – named after Lauren's late grandfather Jim Branning (John Bardon).

Cindy returned to the room, and while Peter thanked her for helping Lauren, he told his mum that she wasn't welcome.

Furious over the rejection, Cindy confronted Ian and Kathy outside, telling them that the police wouldn't be interested in her shooting Ian, as he had previously claimed the injury as a shrapnel wound.

They would, however, be keen to hear about Kathy's attempt on Cindy's life - and Cindy demanded the deeds to Beale's Eels, the chip shop and the house in exchange for her silence!

How will Ian and Kathy react?

Read more:

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• EastEnders spoilers reveal Cindy’s explosive return as happy event is ruined
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• Danny Dyer says EastEnders producer "didn't like the Carters" following soap exit

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.

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