Callum Highway (Tony Clay) is shocked to find out what husband Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) is going through in EastEnders next week when he arrives home to find him purging.
Ben, as viewers know, has been battling bulimia after a particularly traumatic year full of catastrophic events, which severely impacted the young mechanic’s mental health.
His feelings of inadequacy continue in upcoming scenes, with Jay Brown’s (Jamie Borthwick) parental hearing approaching, with it looking like Ben might miss the court date altogether, as he takes his frustrations out on the punching bag at Boxing Den.
George Knight (Colin Salmon), however, comes to the rescue, advising Ben to be there for Lexi (Isabella Brown), no matter what he feels, words which seemingly have a profound effect on Ben, who races to the courthouse, making it there just in time for the hearing, much to Jay’s relief.
Celebrations subsequently get underway in the Vic but Honey (Emma Barton), having previously picked up on Ben’s behaviour around food, once again spots his discomfort and proceeds to follow him home in a bid to get him to open up to her.
The market inspector shares her own experiences with bulimia, hoping it will help, but Ben responds by lashing out, ordering her to leave his home at once. Honey does as she’s told while Ben breaks down in tears, feeling totally and utterly alone.
‘Ben default setting is to defend, so he’ll always defend himself when he feels like he’s on the back foot,’ actor Max Bowden reveals. ‘Honey immediately picks up on Ben’s struggles, having suffered an eating disorder herself so she can start the see the signs.’
‘[Honey and Ben] have also gone through a period of bonding with the family coming together after Lola’s death but the internal damage the Ben holds on to forces him to push everyone away. We are starting to see little sparks of growth with him, but defence is his immediate reaction.’
Honey being Honey takes it upon herself to support Ben, though refuses to break his confidence as she speaks to Callum, urging him to get his husband to open up.
Ben spots the two together and, unaware that Honey has actually kept quiet, he confronts her, lashing out once more, forcing Billy (Perry Fenwick) and Jay to step in, confused over what has unfolded.
Lexi, meanwhile, gets involved, ordering her dad to apologise to Honey, and Ben ultimately realises that he was in the wrong as he sets out to make things right, with he and Honey later going for a coffee, having something of a heart-to-heart.
Honey proves as supportive as ever, once again begging Ben to let Callum in, and it seems as though the former shop assistant’s words hit home, as Ben sets out to confide in his soulmate about what he’s going through.
On his way home, however, Ben bumps into Phil (Steve McFadden) and a difficult conversation ensues, resulting in him purging once more, as Callum unexpectedly arrives home early and catches him.
The detective is nothing but supportive as he tries talking to Ben, but things ultimately go horribly wrong.
Ben subsequently heads to the gym and proceeds to punch the bag, much to the horror of Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace), who can’t believe the terrible state he’s in, making it her mission to find out what’s on his mind.
Upon finding out the reason for his upset, Kat offers her perspective as a fellow survivor of rape, warning Ben that he’ll destroy himself and everyone he loves if he doesn’t seek help.
‘It’s a very unique situation because I don’t think anyone ever saw Ben confiding so deeply in Kat and finding real common ground with his step-mother-to-be,’ continued Max.
‘Kat’s a very fiery character and there are a lot of similarities between Ben and Kat. Aspects of trauma, aspects of fieriness, family problems, and I think this takes Ben by surprise.
‘Ben finds strength within strength and Kat is a very strong woman and she’s also the closest link to his father. Ben can’t talk to Phil because he just doesn’t get things like this.’
After giving it some thought, Ben takes Kat’s advice and reluctantly agrees to try a support group, with Kat accompanying him and, afterwards, he returns home to find Callum waiting for him.
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Callum desperately wants to be there for his beloved Ben, urging him to let him in and share what’s going on, but will Ben feel ready to do so?
That remains to be seen, but later in the week, he takes a huge step as he begins talking about his mental trauma after he and Kat go to the assessment.
One to watch: Monday August 7 at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
You can find information, advice, resources and support around eating disorders by visiting Beat’s website or contacting their helplines and web-chat services.
Further information can be found on the NHS’s information page on bulimia.
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