EastEnders fans were stunned during last night’s episode (Tuesday Dec. 7) as Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ) attacked Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) in an emotional rage after she found out his cancer secret.
After Stuart received the devastating news from the doctor, he furiously stormed out of the room, refusing to believe it. But later on, Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) suspected something was wrong with Stuart when he got drunk at the pub. As he was too drunk to stand, Sonia took him back to her house to sober him up.
At Sonia’s house, Stuart was adamant that he was fine, while Sonia gave him glasses of water to drink. Sonia didn’t believe him, however, and asked him, “Something’s been bugging you all day, hasn’t it? You weren’t right when I saw you this morning!”
Stuart was hesitant to tell her anything, but Sonia was determined to know what was wrong. “You know you can talk to me about anything, don’t you?” she said.
“Your mum had breast cancer,” Stuart revealed, to which Sonia responded with, “Does someone else have breast cancer, Stuart?”
He nodded and he tried to play it off that his friend had been diagnosed, but Sonia presumed it was his wife, Rainie (Tanya Franks).
When Sonia finally uncovered the truth, Stuart burst into tears and told her to forget he had said anything after she questioned when he had found out.
“You can’t just ignore it, you need to deal with it!” Sonia told him. But, Stuart soon became violent and shoved Sonia against the wall, which he instantly regretted.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do that! I don’t know what I’m doing, I don’t know what I’m doing, darling. Or what’s happening to me anymore,” he sobbed.
Fans on Twitter were devastated for Stuart after he lashed out at Sonia…
Went “woah” when Stuart grabbed Sonia 🥴 #EastEndersDecember 7, 2021
Really dark, Stuart made me jump and cry. 😢@RickyChamp1 already is gonna smash this SL xx #EastEndersDecember 8, 2021
Devastated for Stuart but brilliant acting as always from Ricky #EastendersDecember 7, 2021
Stuart’s breaking my heart. A cancer diagnosis is a lot for someone to deal with. His uncertainty about his future scares him. Ricky is already doing the SL justice.🙌😭 #EastEnders pic.twitter.com/36UuevnOUUDecember 7, 2021
Oh no Stuart is in extremely deep denial. The first glimpse of his dark side in ages 😭💔😭😭😭😭😭#EastEndersDecember 7, 2021
Stuart certainly gave Sonia a shock. Don't think she's seen the darker side to him before. Clearly the bad news has really rocked Stuart. He doesn't know how to handle it. @RickyChamp1 is amazing 👌🏻👍🏻December 7, 2021
EastEnders continues Thursday Dec. 9 at 7:35pm on BBC1— see our TV Guide for full listings.
