EastEnders reveals Ross and Joel Marshall's big secret in tense iPlayer edition

Ross has borrowed money from Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), adoptive sister of his partner Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig), claiming he needed to pay off some loan sharks.

But viewers knew there was more to it after some furtive conversations between father and son, and Ross had cause for concern when he and Vicki arrived home to find Joel having just had sex with Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James).

Vicki didn't understand why a livid Ross was overreacting, but when Joel claimed he really cared for Avani, Ross backed down and simply advised him to take precautions.

But when Ross took a look at Joel's phone, he was sickened to realise that his son had footage of himself sleeping with Avani.

Confronting Joel, Ross couldn't believe he had been so stupid "again", but Joel insisted that Avani had known she was being filmed.

Ross asked if Joel had sent the recording to anyone, and the teen said he hadn't, before deleting it from his phone.

Vicki knew something was wrong, and demanded answers from Ross, who came clean about the real reason he and Joel couldn't go back to Australia - and there had been no loan sharks.

Joel had taken a photo under a girl's skirt, and to keep the police out of the matter, Ross had paid off the family!

Failing to add what he had just discovered about Joel and Avani, Ross relayed the love he had for his boy, telling Vicki it's what drove him to take the action he had.

But Vicki was horrified that Ross had covered up Joel's disgusting crime and used Sharon's money under false pretences, and she stormed out.

When Vicki returned, she ordered Joel to do exactly as she said - starting with moving to a boys' school.

Ross was merely grateful that Vicki was sticking by him, but are the couple doing the right thing, or could Joel's behaviour get worse?

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

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