Inside Soap UK 44 - 2018

Well, the Inside Soap Awards are over for another year! And while it’s amazing to be able to hand out trophies to the winners, the most important thing for me is that these are the awards voted for by you – the loyal, passionate, funny Inside Soap readers. And that certainly rang true to me on the night, with various stars delighted that these were the awards that came from you. “If Inside Soap says it’s true – it’s true!” “Inside Soap is legendary,” said Dean Gaffney, who as EastEnders’ Robbie has been in soap almost as long as Inside Soap itself. “It’s like the holy grail for us guys – if Inside Soap says it’s true, then it’s true!” Ah, shucks. Thanks, Dean! But as the awards fade away…

New mother Hayley returns to Albert Square with her baby daughter this week – and then makes a spur-of-the-moment decision to give her tiny child away! When the young mum arrives back home in a cab, she suddenly realises that she doesn’t even have the money to pay the driver. Fortunately, though, Carmel spots what’s happening and steps in to give the cabbie his fare. However, Hayley’s troubles are far from over, and she starts to go down a very dark path… “Now the baby has arrived, Hayley is just in a daze…” “Hayley has been frantic with worry about having this child for months, but now it’s finally arrived, she’s just in a daze,” reckons our Walford snoop. “She’s not thinking clearly, and she needs some proper help. Of…

The Ahmeds were recently forced to give up baby Harley, when the little lad went back to his biological mother. So when Mariam and Arshad come to discover that they’ve been left another child on their doorstep, might the pair attempt to turn the situation to their advantage? Having taken the little girl into their home, Mariam initially tells her husband that she’s informed the authorities. Arshad soon realises that his wife is lying, though, forcing her to admit the truth about the note left by Hayley. Mariam then explains to Masood and Arshad that they should give Hayley time to come to her senses. However, could her reluctance to hand the baby over be an indication that she’s already thinking about the idea of caring for the child on…

There are tears of joy in Weatherfield this week – as Kate and Rana reunite, and propose to one another. Things were fraught when Rana left to go on a cruise with her homophobic mum, hoping they could rebuild their damaged relationship following her dad’s sudden death. Kate was heartbroken and tried to stop Rana going, but gave her blessing when she realised just how much it meant to her girlfriend to mend fences with her family. Their time apart has made both girls recognise just how much they mean to each other, and that they want to spend the rest of their lives together. “Kate and Rana have had a lot of hardships in their lives…” “I was really emotional when I first read the script, I texted Faye…

The proposal is a delight for both Kate and Rana – but a big problem comes up when Kate tells Rana that one of the reasons she wants to marry her is because she’ll make a great mum. It’s a conversation that the couple have never had before, and what Kate doesn’t know is that Rana doesn’t want to have children. “Rana is keen to travel and see the world, so the fact that Kate wants kids straight away throws her,” shares Bhavna. “The more Kate talks about it, the more the fear is embedded in Rana, and she can’t shift it. She doesn’t want to disappoint Kate because she wants to give her everything she desires in life, especially after losing Aidan. They are really happy together at the…

There’s more misery for Debbie this week, as her financial and legal troubles mount – and she finally receives word from runaway groom Joe. Debbie has been living a nightmare since her husband-to-be failed to show up to their hospital nuptials, and the police arrested her for ordering Ross’ acid attack. Worse still, she’s had to watch from afar as her ill daughter Sarah recovers from a heart transplant. So, although Debbie is out on bail and trying to rebuild her life, she’s in turmoil. Then she gets a text from Joe that simply says, ‘I’m sorry’. “This is going to come as a surprise to viewers since it looked as though Joe was six feet under,” muses our Dales insider. “The last we saw, his lifeless body was in…