EastEnders has aired an unexpected twist for Lauren Branning, as she betrays her partner Peter Beale.

The couple have been coming to terms with their son Jimmy’s visual impairment diagnosis and haven’t been seeing eye to eye.

Penny noticed the tension between them in today’s episode, and Lauren explained that Peter hasn’t managed to bond with Jimmy yet.

While Lauren was supported by the community, Peter was reluctant to spend time with his baby son, leaving Lauren feeling more alone than ever.

Fierce enemies Cindy and Kathy even came together to stage an intervention, and while Lauren gratefully accepted the help, Peter insisted that they didn’t need it.

Peter eventually snapped and made it clear that he thought Lauren was to blame for Jimmy’s blindness, because she took drugs during her pregnancy.

As he continued his cruel rant about her past behaviour, Lauren was devastated by her fiancé’s true feelings, while Cindy and Kathy were furious with him.

Lauren went into self-destruct mode and arrived at The Vic to get a drink, but Linda refused to serve her, determined to stop her relapsing.

She went to The Albert next, but Linda had already warned Gina, so she was refused alcohol there as well. Lauren was spotted by Zack, who is also struggling after being rejected by his secret son Barney.

Zack took Lauren back to his flat and urged her not to drink. She opened up to him about Peter, and Zack made it clear that she wasn’t to blame for Jimmy’s condition.

He told Lauren about the situation with Barney and remarked that Peter didn’t know how lucky he was to have a new baby in his life.

Meanwhile, Cindy had an emotional chat with Peter about her experience looking after him and Lucy as children. He took his mum’s advice and sang Jimmy a song and was thrilled that he managed to stop him crying.

But as Peter finally made a breakthrough, Lauren and Zack grew closer and shared a kiss. Their previous passion ended Zack’s relationship with Whitney, but will Peter find out about Lauren’s betrayal?