Given how EastEnders’ Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) loves exposing other people’s affairs, you’d be forgiven for thinking she would be staunchly against any extramarital activities.

Not so, it seems.

Lauren – who famously and explosively revealed the affairs of both dad Max Branning (Jake Wood) and Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) and mum-in-law Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) and Junior Knight (Micah Balfour) on Christmas Day 2008 and 2024 respectively – looks set to embark on a steamy romance with hunky gangster Mark Fowler Jr (Stephen Aaron-Sipple).

The BBC soap sets the wheels in motion for a possible relationship between the pair this week when Mark comes to Lauren’s rescue following a carjacking, when she takes him out for a test drive in a vintage motor.

However, Lauren has no idea that Mark is embroiled in the criminal underworld thanks to his dodgy dealings with the same drugs gang Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) has been wrapped up in.

Following Mark’s knight in shining armour routine, Lauren is drawn to Mark once again next week after a disastrous Mother’s Day lunch, which sees her dad Max at loggerheads with his family (for a change).

Forthcoming scenes will see Mark offer Lauren – who recently went into business with Max after buying the car lot – a huge deal to supply her with a stream of luxury motors to sell, which she agrees to.

A suspicious Max soon questions Lauren on the validity of the paperwork, but she insists the cars are legit.

However, local copper Callum Highway (Tony Clay) later informs Lauren that the classic car involved in the carjacking incident has been found, and a list of high-value motors in the neighbourhood have started to go missing, instantly leading her to suspect Mark of wrongdoing.

Lauren then goes to confront Mark, but given his smooth-talking ways, could tension turn into passion between the pair?