EastEnders fans have labelled a new storyline as "sick" after scenes that aired on Wednesday night saw DC Craig Ingram sharing a kiss with teenager Amy Mitchell.
The long-running BBC soap, which began in 1985, has often dealt with a number of controversial topics over the years but as viewers tuned into the latest instalment of the London-based serial, teenager Amy Mitchell went for a drink with detective Craig Ingram (Matthew James Bailey).
Fans react to the shock kiss
She initially asked him for a single gin and tonic, but he returned from the bar with a double and after a lengthy chat about her family, the pair shared a kiss. In-universe, Amy is due to turn 18 in the coming weeks, although she is played by 21-year-old actress Ellie Dadd.
Taking to X to react to the shock kiss, one fan wrote: "Amy has already been through so much, this is just more trauma for her," and another said: "Creepy Craig hitting on Amy" and a third wrote: "Creepy Craig is still sniffing around amy.."
A fourth said: "Saw this coming it will be a grooming storyline Sean is coming bk too eastenders soon I hope he can save amy," and a fifth raged: "oh this is making me sick amy and craig giving me whitney and tony vibes all over again."
Storyline theories emerge
Recently, Amy tried to get information out of Craig about his investigation, and her anger towards Joel has lead many to believe that she might be responsible for his attack. This in turn has led to a theory that Craig might take advantage of teenager Amy's situation for nefarious purposes, with some suggesting he might "groom" her.
Earlier this month, fans predicted that this will have consequences for the New Year flashforward. One fan said: "So we know from various spoilers that Craig and Amy are about to have storyline where they get closer whilst amid his investigation into who whacked Joel but I reckon there's a lot more to it.
"Like many people have guessed, I reckon Amy hit Joel over the head and Craig will find out and use it to his advantage. Basically, he's a creep who blackmails Amy in some way (hopefully not the grooming way but that'll probably be it). But Max will find out try to have Craig killed for messing with Amy (this is the 'murder' he's accused of in the flashforward).
"In the process, Amy's secret is exposed and she goes to prison for attacking Joel - hence why she's not in the flashforward and why Jack is so upset."
Roxy Mitchell return speculation
They then added that they thought this might cause a major return to EastEnders for Rita Simon's Roxy Mitchell. The character, who is Amy's mum, was last seen almost 10 years ago, when she and her sister Ronnie (Samantha Womack) drowned on New Year's Day 2017. Fans have often decried their exit as a mistake and begged the show to change it to a 'faked death' and bring them back.
The fan said: "And this brings me on to my real theory/wishful thinking: Roxy, who has been in witness protection, hears her daughter is in prison because of Max and returns to make him pay, holding his children at gunpoint so that he has to pick one to save."
Another fan agreed: "This sounds very plausible, I think you could be right. The Amy and Craig thing has to be leading somewhere and I did wonder why Amy isn't in the flashforward episode, and think Craig could be the one Max 'kills'. Amy does seem to be hiding something doesn't she.
"As for Roxy, i feel like there's been so much talk about a possible return and a witness protection thing, and there was that scene recently of Amy looking at photos in the same episode as the Bea fake death thing, so I think Roxy could return for sure."
If Roxy did return on New Year's Day, it would be the exact 10th anniversary of her exit from the show, and come just ahead of the 20th anniversary of when the Mitchell sisters both arrived in Walford.
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
