Drug dealer Okie (Aayan Ibikunle Shoderu) has opened up about his troubled past in EastEnders.

The villain, real name Tobias Okyere, arrived in Albert Square in July as one of Ravi Gulati’s (Aaron Thiara) cronies.

A desperate Ravi had returned to the narcotics underworld when Bernie Taylor (Clair Norris) stole a significant amount of cash from the family’s businesses, leaving them on the brink of bankruptcy.

After receiving a contact – and a stark warning – from Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington), he hid the stash in his car and employed Okie to distribute them.

Ravi then made a deal with Harry Mitchell (Elijah Holloway) to keep the vehicle in The Arches… and it wasn’t long before the drugs were discovered by Kojo.

Spooked by the situation, he took the drugs home and flushed them down the loo. Harry has since had to implement some damage control by working for Ravi and save his best mate’s skin.

Ravi and Okie then also started using Kojo’s flat as a drugs den, which has had catastrophic consequences. To make matters worse, Okie has got a bit too big for his boots – effectively being the ringleader of the operation.

He’s painted himself as a good mate to Kojo, and in the last week, send him off to a car show in Cardiff while he holds Harry hostage in the flat.

Okie has even gone as far as starting to flirt with Harry’s girlfriend Gina Knight (Francesca Henry) – and during a rare open moment, he discussed his upbringing.

Okie opens up to Gina about a brutal death
After taunting Harry, saying that he’d arranged to meet Gina for a drink, Okie headed to The Vic.

He immediately tried to flash the cash, asking for the boozer’s finest champagne, but she said she’d prefer a pint.

Gina began to open up about her life in Marbella, where mum Cindy (Michelle Collins) and dad George (Colin Salmon) ran a bar. She then hoped he would reciprocate with a story about his youth, but he was reluctant to spill.

‘Ain’t got nothing to tell,’ he explained.

She then said she was sick of the ‘silent, moody type’, and began to finish her drink.

Okie, realising her was losing her attention, finally began to speak. He explained that he didn’t get to meet his dad until he was nine, after being told he wasn’t a good man.

His father would show him off as his proudest achievement, showering him in gifts. But that all came crashing down when he was 14.

Okie’s dad was stabbed with his own knife in a ‘petty scuffle’, and in the aftermath, his mum spiralled. She would go missing for days and leave him and his brother to care for their younger sister Dejia.

Gina had finally broken through his tough façade, but little does she realise, Harry is becoming ever-dependant on drugs, locked away in Kojo’s spare bedroom.