A Priya paternity test EastEnders storyline is officially under way, with Priya Nandra-Hart desperately trying to discover whether Ravi Gulati or Max Branning is the father of her unborn child, without either man finding out she is pregnant.
The BBC soap has confirmed that Priya will realise she is expecting in upcoming scenes, and that the two potential fathers present her with an immediate and complicated problem. Telling either of them the truth is not something she is ready to do, which means she needs to find another way to get answers.
Jean steps in as Priya hatches her paternity test plan
With nowhere else to turn, Priya enlists Jean (the only person who knows about her affair with Max) to help her obtain DNA samples from both men without raising suspicion. The pair head to the community centre, where a donor drive is being held to find a stem cell match for Denise, and attempt to discreetly collect specimens from Ravi and Max while the event provides cover.
‘To go ahead with a paternity test, Priya needs DNA samples from both potential dads,’ an EastEnders insider explains. ‘But telling the truth about being pregnant, let alone her baby daddy crisis, simply isn’t an option for her right now. Jean’s the only person who knows that Priya and Max have been having an affair behind closed doors, so she’s the only one Priya can turn to for help!’
Whether the pair can pull it off without either man noticing anything unusual remains to be seen, but the stakes could hardly be higher for Priya.
Ravi and Priya reaffirm their love, unaware of the secret between them
Later in the week, Priya and Ravi share what appears to be a tender moment, the two of them reaffirming their love and the future they have planned together. For Ravi, nothing is amiss. For Priya, the weight of what she is concealing grows heavier by the day.
‘Ravi doesn’t have a clue that Priya is hiding something so huge from him,’ a source close to the show reveals. ‘They look so smitten when they reaffirm their love for each other, but who knows how long Priya can keep her secret under wraps? She’s handled some dicey situations in the past, but guilt is a powerful emotion. It feels as though her baby news is a ticking time bomb waiting to blow up…’
It is a neat piece of dramatic irony: the more convincingly Priya plays the devoted partner, the more difficult the eventual reckoning is likely to be.
Penny Branning’s collapse adds another layer to the drama
The Priya paternity test EastEnders plot does not unfold in isolation. According to Yahoo News UK, Penny Branning is set to start coughing up blood during a conversation with Max and Priya at the park, a development that threatens to pull Max’s attention in an entirely different direction just as Priya is trying to keep him at arm’s length.
The timing could hardly be worse for Priya. With Max potentially distracted by concern for Penny, the already delicate web of secrets she is spinning becomes even harder to manage. Every new complication risks unravelling the whole thing.
Should the paternity test reveal Max as the father, Priya would face an impossible choice: come clean to Ravi, or continue a deception that grows more elaborate by the episode. And with Penny’s health suddenly becoming a factor, Max’s own life is about to get considerably more complicated regardless of what the test shows.
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes are also available from 6am ahead of their broadcast on BBC One. The Priya paternity test EastEnders scenes are set to air this week.
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