It's all going to kick off in EastEnders this week as the love triangle between Michelle Fowler, Bex and Preston comes to a head
Tonight's EastEnders sees Michelle reach breaking point when she discovers that Preston and Bex are now an official couple. She tries to convince a confused Martin that Preston isn't right for his daughter - but is she speaking from a place of concern or jealousy? One thing's for sure, some hearts are going to get broken this week. Jenna Russell - who plays Michelle - has spoken out about the controversial storyline...
Things are about to come to a head this week for Michelle, how do you think she’s coping with the Preston/Bex situation?
Terribly. She’s coping terribly. She's like one of those people in a circus balancing plates on poles, she's trying to keep one going, and that’s fine, and then trying to keep another going.. She’s just running around trying to put out little fires and not actually managing well at all. Probably things would be very different if she had Sharon with her because she would have someone to talk to and someone to help her manage the situation. Michelle really would like Preston to go but she doesn’t know how to do it, because she hasn’t got the money to pay for his flight back. The situation with Bex is awful, but in order to keep Bex away from Preston she’d have to tell her the truth, and she can’t do that. She’s trying very hard to manage the situation but obviously she’s not managing the situation at all.
Does Michelle feel bad offering Bex - her niece - advice about Preston?
We filmed a scene where Michelle tries to steer Bex away from Preston in the kindest way she can, and it’s interesting, on paper the way it was written it could have gone one of two ways – either she’s jealous and wants Bex to stay away for her purposes because she feels ‘Preston’s my boyfriend’, or, because she genuinely wants to protect Bex from Preston (We played it the latter way). Bex is family, and as she said all along, Martin and Bex are really all she’s got. Of course none of it works because she sadly isn’t completely straight with her, and she has her own reasons for that. The fact that Preston, to get at Michelle, slept with Bex, horrifies her. It’s the last thing she would have wanted. She knows Bex is a vulnerable young girl who’s going through a really important time in her life, in her exams and everything, and she wants to protect Bex.
In tonight’s episode (Monday) Preston tells Michelle he and Bex are officially a couple now. How does she take the news?
Michelle knows he says that to get at Michelle. She knows he’s enjoying the fact that he’s playing her. I don’t think she’s jealous of their relationship. That might play a little part of it somewhere in the back of her head, but it’s much more to do with the fact he’s brought an innocent into their messed up relationship and Michelle wants to protect her.
She tries to tell Martin and she tries to tell Bex to stay away from Preston as much as she can without telling the truth. Preston pushed to work for Martin on the stall, another way to wind Michelle up, and she tries to say he can’t, she tries to send him home but she can’t. She’s trying to do as much as she can without standing in the middle of the square shouting ‘I’ve slept with him’, because she wants to save her reputation. All she had to do was be honest to the people who matter to her, but it’s something she felt she couldn’t be honest about.
Does Michelle’s worst nightmare finally comes true tonight when Bex confronts her about her and Preston?
For Michelle it’s the worst case scenario. The walls are falling down around her, the ground is shifting underneath her. Her brother, who she loves so dearly, is looking at her in a different way. She’s a very proud woman and looking at her past, she’s really proud of what she’s done with her life and feels like she’s really made something of herself. In her brother’s eyes he felt the same.
For me, when I read the script I thought at least everyone knows now, it’s out there, the truth is out. Come what may, whatever is written in terms of the script, Michelle isn’t going to be lying anymore (about Preston). I feel it’s a good thing, because Michelle has to face up to what she’s done and face the consequences. She’ll have to mend those bridges and build a better foundation.
How was it filming with Martin Anzor who plays Preston?
He is a lovely guy. We got on well and he’s doing a great job. Watching it back I think he’s coming across really well. It helped me that the character was slightly Machiavellian. Preston knows his power and he knows what he’s doing, so that gave an interesting slant to it all, rather than him just being a puppy dog. He plays Michelle and he plays Bex. I’m sure if we met Preston ten years down the line he’d admit he didn’t handle it very well.
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