Danniella: Sam tells Ricky she cheated...with Jack

Danniella: Sam tells Ricky she cheated...with Jack
Danniella: Sam tells Ricky she cheated...with Jack (Image credit: BBC)

EastEnders' Danniella Westbrook reveals that when Archie tells Bianca and Bianca tells Ricky, Sam confesses her affair with Jack... and runs! Why did Sam sleep with Jack when she’d just got engaged to Ricky? "It was sort of a lust thing, really. She does love Ricky, but I don’t think he’s enough for her. He’s got so much baggage with the kids and Bianca… There would always be a Jack in the background I think." Did she even think that her cheating would devastate Ricky if he found out? "Yes, but she didn’t expect to be found out." It’s her Uncle Archie who gives her game away… Would Sam have expected that of him? "She’s always got on well with Archie and trusted him. While the rest of the Mitchells have been on her case, he’s always been supportive – or so she thought. I’ve loved working with Larry Lamb and at one point hoped Sam would turn out to be his secret daughter. Wouldn’t that be a great plot?" What does she think when he offers her cash to disappear and avoid prison? "She thinks he genuinely wants to help her. He makes her believe she’ll go to prison and he can help her leave. He tells her he’ll look after her mum and she believes him when he says he’ll make sure everything is all right if she does a runner." But she’d never be able to come back? "That’s why she’s so torn. She’s really missed her family and doesn’t want to lose them again. But she doesn’t want to go to prison either. The thought terrifies her." Does she think Ricky would go with her? "She knows he can’t because of the kids. It’s when she decides to stay that Archie tells Bianca about Sam." What happens? "Archie tells Bianca he saw Sam and Jack kissing and Bianca tells Ricky who confronts her. But Sam only admits to kissing Jack. Bianca then gets the truth out of Jack and forces Sam to tell Ricky the truth in the middle of The Vic." Are Sam and Ricky all over after that? "Actually they’re not. Ricky forgives her and Sam thinks, ‘Bless him, he must really love me.’ She feels awful and regrets cheating." Does Sam decide to stay with Ricky? "She wants to, but she’s so afraid of going to prison. She changes her mind again, takes Archie’s money and does a runner." Would she go if she finds out it’s all part of Archie’s plan to get The Vic? "No way." Who do you think Ricky should be with, Sam or Bianca? "Neither. But if I had to choose then Bianca. She’s a strong woman and they’ve got kids." Click here to watch whatsontv.co.uk’s new weekly soaps video preview, the Soap Scoop

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.