EastEnders' Steve John Shepherd tells Soaplife that Michael needs cash and he needs it fast to pay for Janine's fancy wedding. That's when he does the dirty on Jean! Janine is splashing Michael's cash on their wedding as fast as he can hand it over - and he's conning money out of Jean to keep up! "He doesn't want Janine to be dictating all the terms so he really pulls Jean into his sinister little web," Steve tells Soaplife. And he needs to keep her there if he's any hope of meeting Janine's demands! Janine's got money so why doesn't Michael just let her settle the wedding bills? "He doesn't want to feel emasculated by the fact that she has money, pulls the strings and has her hands on the levers of power. He thinks he can have an equal say by paying his way." Why can't Michael just admit to Janine that he's broke? "He's worried she might think he's a gold-digger and he doesn't want that." But he can't afford to pay for the wedding venue! So what does he do? "He goes looking for Jean. The eight grand he's already had from her is just for starters. He gives her five hundred pounds and says it's a return on her investment, but that's just bait. He is embezzling money from her because he can't get it anywhere else and Jean just falls into his lap." He even talks her into letting him invest Alfie's money, too! "He's seen goings-on at The Vic and sees Jean is allowed to look after the books. She puts up resistance but that's all part of the sport for him. He enjoys the risk." Is he worried that Janine will find out what he's up to? "He offsets that against the risk of being kicked out of the relationship. It's a risk he's willing to take." Will the wedding actually go ahead? "If it does it'll be ridiculously over the top!"
