EastEnders fans SWITCH OFF slamming ‘worst episode' as backlash grows to controversial pregnancy storyline
Viewers flooded social media with complaints, branding the latest instalment the 'worst episode ever'.
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Suki's (Balvinder Sopal) twisted plan to manipulate Avani (Aaliyah James) into having a baby – just so she can raise it herself - has received a huge public backlash.
The shocking scenes left fans fuming, with many slamming the plot as "abysmal" and asking, "What the hell did I just watch?"
In the episode, Eve (Heather Peace) was left gobsmacked after discovering Suki's shocking plan to adopt Avani's baby.
Furious, she lashed out, accusing her of manipulating the teen and calling her some pretty harsh words.
But in a bizarre U-turn later that same night, after Avani had a heart-to-heart with Eve, she somehow managed to talk her round — with the pair now considering raising the baby together as their own.
Viewers are slamming the storyline as 'unrealistic' and 'garbage', with some even vowing to ditch the soap for good.
Taking to an online forum, one fan wrote: "Avani seems to have had a personality transplant. Does she not remember her step-grandmother has already raised 4 children? This is not her chance."
Another said: "The Suki storyline being positioned as some sort of heart-warming tale of motherhood and not the coercion and abuse story that it actually is so inappropriate."
To make matters worse, the same episode saw Patrick (Rudolph Walker) suddenly spiral into a gambling problem, despite two decades of betting without a hitch.
Viewers were left scratching their heads and branding the writing "tedious" and "a challenge to watch."
One said: "I hate how Patrick has gambled for 20+ years and now all of a sudden it's a problem."
Another added: "Patrick has gambled since the first day Yolande met him. Now it is a contrived part of the plot for her to call off the wedding.
"None of the stories make sense and it is a challenge to watch."
EastEnders is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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Most complained about soap storylines
Over the years, all three of the main soaps have featured plots that have had even die-hard fans reaching for their phones and laptops so they can get in touch with Ofcom and complain. Here are just some of the most scandalous...
EastEnders baby theft: 13,400 Ofcom complaints - Back in 2011, EastEnders was flooded with complaints when Ronnie Branning (RIP) swapped her baby for the dead son of Kat Moon. The storyline drew the most number of objections in the soap's long history and saw it roundly criticised by campaigners - with 13,400 flying in over the course of the storyline. Some viewers called it 'distressing' and 'horrific' but Ofcom ruled the scenes were not "unduly disturbing'.
Emmerdale dog-napping: 550 Ofcom complaints - Back in 2016, Ross Barton and Charity Dingle came up with a plan to steal a dog and hold it ransom - but viewers didn't like it one bit. The nation's pet owners rose up, insisting the storyline would encourage copycats (not to mention copydogs). Complaints over two episodes totalled a staggering 550 and soap writers quickly learnt you don't mess with animal-lovers.
Coronation Street double murder: 546 Ofcom complaints - Marginally less people complained about a gruesome double murder than objected to a dog-napping plot when Pat Phelan was at the centre of a spate of killings. First he forced Andy Carver to shoot dead Vinny Ashford - and then Pat killed Andy. All the bloodshed back in 2017 proved to be too much for some viewers, who lodged complaints in vast numbers about the 'violent scenes'.
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