EastEnders fans have threatened to stop watching the soap as Gina Knight (Francesca Henry) and Dean Wicks' (Matt Di Angelo) relationship took a vile turn during last night's episode (Monday, January 22).
Dean has managed to deceive usually streetwise Gina by lying that Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) wrongly accused him of rape. On top of that, his concern for his ill daughter Jade Green convinced her that he was a good dad and softened her.
The pair have been secretly seeing each other and Gina has been careful about making their relationship public, given that her family are well aware of what Dean did to Linda and have been supporting her.
Last night, Dean bumped into Gina in the Square and they secretly slipped into an alleyway. However, as Dean attempted to kiss her, she was quick to stop him and was worried that somebody might see them.
But soon enough, Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) spotted them together and witnessed Gina kissing Dean on the cheek before quickly going back into the Vic.
Jay confronted Gina about her relationship with Dean and she gushed about how much she liked him, telling him that he isn't what Linda says.
Later on, Gina and Dean secretly met up in the barrel store and kissed. But when Gina told him that Jay wouldn't tell anyone about their relationship, he pressured her into coming out about their secret.
Dean became increasingly frustrated when she refused and asked her if she was messing him about.
"I don't know. What am I supposed to believe? You pull away from me all the time! You make me feel like a right mug!" he said.
Gina reassured him by kissing him until they overheard Linda making her way into the barrel store and Dean quickly hid behind a wall before she could find them together.
After a conversation with Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) about his "mystery woman" who won't commit, Dean had an idea when Ian suggested he needed to prove he was serious about the relationship.
Dean burst into the Vic with a bouquet of flowers and kissed Gina in front of her horrified family, declaring his love for her.
Fans felt sick at the Gina and Dean storyline and threatened to "quit" the soap...
i fear i might have to quit eastenders just until this dean and gina thing goes away because i can not deal #Eastenders pic.twitter.com/Z5HXPMFvspJanuary 22, 2024
Gina and Dean make me feel sick #EastendersJanuary 22, 2024
Dean has outstayed his welcome by nearly 3 months. Should never have been brought back. This whole relationship with Gina is sick and is dragging her down as a character too 😩 #EastEndersJanuary 22, 2024
Dean/Gina... Nish/Kat... ugh. Can #EastEnders become any more vomit-inducing?January 23, 2024
This Dean & Gina plot is beyond disgusting now. I have no idea what anyone in #Eastenders are thinking with this. It’s so disrespectful & insensitive to real survivors.This storyline should never have been started in the first place.January 22, 2024
EastEnders continues tonight at 7:30pm on BBC One.
