EastEnders villain Ned Hawkins fights back as Lauren Beale digs for dirt

EastEnders' Lauren Beale has been digging for dirt about Ned Hawkins after Mark Fowler revealed that the newcomer had asked him to beat up his own son Ryder. In tonight's (22 October) scenes, a worried Lauren listened as her father-in-law Ian spoke highly of Ned, with whom he's been having therapy sessions since getting out of prison.

Lauren called at Mark's later on, sharing her concerns about Ned getting close to Ian. Mark reminded Lauren that they'd agreed to leave Ned alone so he wouldn't expose their affair, but she said she would do some more digging of her own.

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At The Queen Vic, Lauren found a roundabout way to learn more about Ned when she bumped into his son Ryder.

Pretending she wanted some advice about her kid joining a football club, Lauren quizzed the ex-footballer about his past and his dad.

She swiftly manoeuvred the conversation from Ryder's football career to Ned's therapy business. Ryder let it slip that Ned gave up counselling after setting up his own practice because his mate "screwed him over".

Ryder suggested that Ned had worked with a lot of "vulnerable people" and that it had got "too much" for him. Lauren tried and pried some more, asking if something had happened to make Ned give up his business, but she stopped firing questions when Ryder got up his guard.

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"Sorry, it's none of my business," she said with a nervous laugh as Ryder said he needed to head out, but promised to buy her a drink next time.

At home with his dad, Ryder joked about being "chatted up" by Lauren, but Ned immediately sensed that she had ulterior motives for talking to his son.

"I think she wanted to check your credentials," Ryder conceded.

Meanwhile, Lauren called Ned's former practice. She lied about Ned having applied for a job at the car lot and insisted she wanted to check his references, but her plan was halted when the villain showed up at her doorstep.

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In a power play, Ned enquired about Lauren's chat with Ryder, reassuring her that he would keep quiet about her secret romance with Mark and would even stop seeing Ian if it helped put her at ease.

Lauren replied that she was confused about his work with Ian because Ned wasn't doing counselling professionally anymore, but he hit back, musing that being a therapist was "a bit like being a priest".

"It never really leaves you," Ned said with a smile, but it was apparent that he just wanted Lauren to stay in her lane. He even offered her his therapy services, but Lauren politely refused.

The conversation left Lauren reeling. What will she do next?

EastEnders airs on Mondays - Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.

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