EastEnders' David Witts reveals to Soaplife why he feels Joey and Lauren are destined to be so much more than kissing cousins... The electricity's sizzling between cousins Joey and Lauren so it's no surprise when she leans in for a kiss after one too many. The bigger surprise is Joey knocks her back - but only until she sobers up. "Joey's feelings for Lauren are so strong he can't ignore them any more," says David. But even if they don't see anything wrong with cousins being lovers, their combined Branning families sure as heck will! When did Joey start to think that perhaps he was feeling more for Lauren than simple cousinly friendship? "When Lauren rescued him after the girls had handcuffed him. Joey realised Lauren had feelings for him and he finally acknowledged his feelings for her." Why does Joey move into Max's place? "Max finds him sleeping in the car lot office and he agrees to let him move in. It's the start of a bond that begins to form between Max and Joey." But now Joey's living under the same roof as Lauren! "And it's going to be excruciating! Let's just say there'll be a lot of sexual tension." Who makes the first move? "Lauren gets drunk and Joey walks her home when he sees her making a fool of herself in the club. She tries to kiss him, but he stops her. Not because he doesn't want to kiss her, but because he wants to treat her with respect and doesn't want to take advantage." Does Joey think it's wrong to kiss his cousin? "No. He's in love and he's thinking, 'How can it be wrong to feel this way?' I don't think he cares about the consequences or what anyone might think." And they do kiss... "They're at Max's house. Joey explains the only reason he pulled away before was because Lauren was drunk. They kiss, but Lauren stops and says what they're doing is wrong. Joey tells Lauren he wants to be with her, but then Max turns up. Lauren wants to pretend that none of it happened, but Joey doesn't. He knows Lauren feels the same way about him. You can't suppress feelings like that for long..." What will happen if Max and Derek find out? "It could tear the family apart. Lauren and Joey both know that so they're being really careful about how they behave together when they're in public." Is there be a future for them? "They're not doing anything wrong. It's not illegal to have a relationship with your cousin and they haven't known one another for long. They didn't grow up together."
