EastEnders airs Nicola Mitchell twist after Penny Branning blackmail in early BBC iPlayer release

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Nicola Mitchell, played by Laura Doddington, recently received a huge surprise while trying to manipulate events in EastEnders.

I noticed earlier this week that Penny Branning (Kitty Castledine) was really worried about her pregnancy. She hinted that something came up during a recent scan that wasn’t good news, and she seemed pretty shaken up about it.

Okay, so during the ultrasound, the technician revealed Penny was further along in her pregnancy than anyone realized, and that was the moment it hit her: Vinny Panesar couldn’t possibly be the father. It was a pretty definitive realization for her, and honestly, for us as the audience too – the pieces just clicked into place.

Okay, so this movie throws a major wrench into things. I was completely floored when it came out that Harry, Gina’s boyfriend, was actually the father – not who everyone thought! Apparently, there was a night of passion between her and Harry right before he went into rehab, and now she’s stuck with this impossible secret. The tension is incredible as she wrestles with whether or not to reveal the truth to both of them. It’s a really compelling emotional dilemma, and I was on the edge of my seat!

Oscar, Pierre Counihan-Moullier, thought it would be best for her to stay silent. It wasn’t great advice, considering Vinny was determined to give their child a wonderful life and had already put down a deposit on a shop space on Turpin Road for her.

Nicola noticed a tense disagreement between Penny and Vinny’s mother, Suki, and tried to get Penny to talk about it privately in Harry’s Barn. Although Penny didn’t directly explain what was wrong, a conversation with Harry later confirmed Nicola’s suspicions – things were as bad as she’d feared.

He shared with his mother details of their one-night stand, not realizing he might have gotten someone pregnant.

Nicola asked Penny to take a DNA test because she was unexpectedly facing the possibility of becoming a mother and a grandmother at the same time.

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Today on the show, George Knight (Colin Salmon) was busy getting ready to open his new restaurant. Meanwhile, Nicola was lost in her own worries about Harry and Penny, and instead of helping George, she chose to make things more difficult for them both.

Nicola issued a harsh warning: if she didn’t get the paternity test results by the end of the day, she would reveal everything to everyone.

An argument broke out between the women after Oscar and his sister, Lauren Beale (played by Jacqueline Jossa), told her to stay strong and not take the test. Right as Penny was about to leave, Nicola suddenly felt a sharp pain.

After briefly worrying on Monday because she couldn’t feel the baby move, she decided against going to the hospital and told Harry she was going home to get some rest.

While everyone else in her family was at the Knight Fusion launch party, she started having contractions while at home alone.

Will Nicola’s early labour go smoothly, and will this delay be a saving grace for Penny?

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Authors

Michael AdamsSoaps Editor

Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at TopMob, providing the latest news and spoilers from all your favorite shows – including Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale, and Hollyoaks. Before joining TopMob, he worked as a Soaps Reporter at Metro for two years, and he also has experience working directly on the sets of Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

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2026-04-01 13:06