EastEnders star teases "fire and carnage" when Penny Branning's baby paternity secret is revealed

Shiv Jalota has teased an explosive fallout to his ongoing EastEnders storyline.

Poor Vinny Panesar has no idea that his girlfriend Penny Branning (Kitty Castledine) is having doubts about the paternity of their newborn son, after learning that the child was conceived earlier than initially thought.

Given she had a fling with Harry Mitchell (Elijah Holloway) prior to his stint in rehab, it's likely that he could be the father.

In today's episode, after Penny unexpectedly gave birth prior to her planned Caesarian section, she told cousin Lauren Beale (Jacqueline Jossa) that she had no intentions of disclosing the secret – completely unaware that Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy) was listening in on the conversation from the hospital corridor.

Will Priya expose the truth?

Whatever the outcome, it's undoubtable that Vinny will eventually learn about Penny's predicament. This is a soap, after all.

"I think Vinny is besotted by her, he loves her, and he sees the future," Jalota told Radio Times at this year's National Television Awards (which you can watch in the video at the top of this page).

"I think Penny, for him, represents what a Panesar is and bringing on the legacy. Does she need to tell Vinny the truth? Maybe, possibly."

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Speaking about the inevitable aftermath, he teased: "There's going to be a lot of fire and carnage. My lips are sealed on that one.

"But it's going to be a lot of drama, which is exciting."

The actor then elaborated on the casting of Sakira Vel, who is taking over the role of Vinny's sister Ash Panesar from next week's episodes.

"Sakira [is] fantastic, and she brings a different energy to Ash," Jalota explained.

"There's a lot of drama to come up for that, and it's nice for Vinny to have his sister back. Nish is dead. There's a lot of drama that's happened, so it's exciting."

Read more:

• EastEnders favourite Balvinder Sopal teases Ash return is "grenade" to the Panesar family unit this autumn
• EastEnders announces hard-hitting Amy Mitchell storyline as BBC soap works with charities

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Authors

Katelyn Mensah is the Senior Entertainment Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.

Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at Radio Times, covering all of the hot gossip and spoilers from Weatherfield to Walford, Emmerdale to Hollyoaks and everywhere in-between. He joined the team from Metro, where he spent two years as a Soaps Reporter and previously worked on the sets of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale.