EastEnders spoilers follow.
EastEnders star Letitia Dean has responded to Sharon Beale's latest move to manipulate her husband Ian.
Last week's festive episodes revealed that Sharon was the one behind Ian's (Adam Woodyatt) attack in the Vic, having orchestrated it with her ex-husband Phil (Steve McFadden) as revenge for the boat crash.
In Monday's episode (December 28), Ian was still recovering from what he thought was a stomach bug – though Sharon had actually tried to off him once again with a poisoned Christmas pudding.
Sharon's quest for revenge hit another snag when Ian's mum, Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), encouraged him to get an annulment since it was obvious that Sharon didn't have any feelings for him.
After Ian confessed that he thought his mum was right, Sharon was backed into a corner and had to pretend that she was "falling in love" with her husband in order to get him back on side.
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Speaking about this latest twist, Letitia Dean said that Sharon is "most definitely" concerned about Kathy being able to see through her plans for Ian.
"She’s been battling with Kathy anyway and this accelerates things for her – she's breaking Ian down, ostracising him from his family – although some could say he did most of that himself – and driving a wedge between him and his mum," the actress noted.
"She's become very good at playing the doting wife!"
This storyline allows EastEnders bosses to once again revisit the classic Sharon vs Kathy feud that has been raging on and off all the way back to the early 1990s.
"Kathy could be the one to make Sharon crack, I think," Dean admitted. "Sharon knows that Kathy realises something is not right but The Vic will freeze over before she admits defeat! She's determined to carry on with her plan and she needs to be very close to Ian in order to do so."
Dean added that Kathy's outwardly hostile reception to Ian's new marriage is what ultimately drove Sharon to lie about being in love with the Walford councillor.
"I think Sharon realises that if she doesn’t do something pretty drastic all her malicious hard work will be ruined," she said. "Ian’s shown Sharon how he feels and she hasn’t really manipulated him emotionally throughout their marriage as they both entered it aware of the others feelings – or non-existent feelings in Sharon’s case.
"She's not pleased about doing it but she knows that telling Ian she’s falling for him will absolutely have the desired affect – he won’t listen to his mum or anyone else and his world will revolve around Sharon. Perfect!"
EastEnders continues on Tuesday (December 29) at 7.30pm on BBC One.
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