*WARNING: This article contains spoilers about Zoe Slater and the story of her twins in EastEnders for the episode airing on Tuesday September 23. This episode hasn’t been on BBC One yet, but is already available to watch on iPlayer.
BBC iPlayer’s latest early-release episode has delivered a bombshell for EastEnders viewers, finally revealing the identity of the father of Zoe’s twins.
But while the long-running mystery appears to be solved on screen, many fans aren’t convinced, flooding social media with doubts about the dramatic twist.
Zoe’s secrets catch up with her
When Zoe returned to the soap earlier this month it was revealed that she had given birth to twins in 2006. The baby girl had died at birth and the boy was given up for adoption after Zoe felt she couldn’t cope.
Now, Zoe is desperate to track down her son and reconnect with him after living with years of regret. But she has so far reached several dead ends.
One man, Greg Dolan, who used to live next door to the foster family, tried to get money out of Zoe, but when he doubled his price then tried to attack her, she left him for dead and ran off.
Only he didn’t die and came back for revenge last week in a dramatic hostage situation. The police now think Greg was the one who shot her. But actually it was a fight between Ravi and Jack that caused the gun to go off.
So who did father Zoe’s baby in EastEnders?
Speculation has been rife as to who fathered Zoe’s children. As she gave birth not too long after her last appearance on screen in 2005, it was believed it could be someone we knew.
In Tuesday’s EastEnders episode, Zoe came to blows with Vicky Fowler. They traded insults about Vicki’s dad, Dennis Watts. Zoe insisted Den never actually loved Vicki and Vicki lashed out.
Zack was caught in the crossfire and got a sore nose for his trouble. Meanwhile, when Sharon found out she stormed over to The Vic to confront Zoe.
But Zoe wasn’t interested in Sharon’s anger, instead she announced she had had a baby all those years ago and was now searching for him.
“You wanna know who the father is?” Zoe asked Sharon, who immediately spat back that there was no way it was Den’s baby.
“Not your dad’s. Your husband’s,” Zoe grinned. “Twenty years ago, Dennis Rickman slept with me. That’s right, Sharon. Precious Dennis – he got me pregnant.”
Dennis was of course Sharon’s adoptive brother who she fell in love with and married. He was with Zoe for a while, but it is unknown whether he and Sharon were together when he supposedly fathered Zoe’s twins.
Fans not convinced
The reaction on social media already has fans sure Zoe is not telling the truth. Rather, the fact she mentioned how much money Sharon has, hinted that Zoe is using it as an angle to get some cash out of her.
“Does this mean that Zoe could’ve been lying about tonight’s Duff duff then?? I think she was lying anyway to wind up Sharon and she’ll try and sponge some money off her for the PI,” share one.
Another added: “Zoe’s a class A liar there’s no way she’s telling the truth. I thought the dates didn’t add up at first.”
“I don’t believe the baby is Dennis’s baby. Zoe just said that to get a rise and hurt Sharon,” agreed a third.
A fourth said: “Nope not buying Dennis is the dad. She knows Sharon has got money and lost Denny, so is hoping that if Sharon thinks Dennis has a child out there, she’ll want to find him, hence finance Zoe’s search for him.”
Read more: EastEnders spoilers for this week as war breaks out
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