EastEnders viewers were horrified after a homophobic attack by Neil’s hate group left Callum Highway (Tony Clay) and Ash Kaur (Gurlaine Kaur Garcha) brutally injured.
The terrifying scenes unfolded during last night’s episode (Tuesday, Jan. 4), which also saw Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) freeze in fear as the gang savagely beat up his husband, Callum.
Neil’s gang, along with Aaron Monroe (Charlie Wernham), have been causing chaos amongst the Square over the last few weeks, first by attacking Keegan Baker (Zack Morris), then, planting a bomb in the building where the new mosque is meant to go.
Last night, while at The Queen Vic, Ben suggested to Callum that they should go out for the evening. Eve Unwin (Heather Peace) overheard the conversation and invited herself and wife Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) along with them.
As they walked to the station, excited for their night out, they bumped into Ash and invited her to join them. Turning down her mother, Suki Panesar’s (Balvinder Sopal) plans to have a family night in, she decided to join in on the fun of the night out.
However, when they reached the train station, things took a nasty turn as Neil’s gang called them a homophobic slur. A furious Eve confronted them and the gang began attacking the group.
Ash was knocked unconscious and was tended to by Stacey and Eve, meanwhile, Ben was frozen in fear and unable to help Callum as he watched him be violently attacked.
Troubled Ben is still living with the trauma of losing his boyfriend Paul Coker (Jonny Labey), who was killed in a homophobic attack while they were on a night out together.
Fans at home were quick to voice their heartbreak of the shocking hate crime, with some finding the scenes hard to watch.
im gonna throw up . seeing that homophobic attack was so hard to see i feel sick. #EastEndersJanuary 4, 2022
That was a difficult scene to watch, especially as that exact situation is how Ben’s husband was killed a few years ago #EastendersJanuary 4, 2022
Omg poor Ben and Callum. This is bringing back awful memories for Ben 😭 #ballum #EastEndersJanuary 4, 2022
That was absolutely horrific 😢 Ash being knocked out and left bleeding whilst Callum’s being kicked over and over again on the ground 💔 And Ben terrified that he’s losing him just like he lost Paul 💔 They were just holding hands 😢 #EastEnders #BallumJanuary 4, 2022
The parallels with that homophobic attack has me shaking 'we where just holding hands' and Ben watching Callum being kicked and him unable to do anything.#Eastenders #BallumJanuary 4, 2022
That was so hard and emotional to watch!Poor Ben you could see the pure terror and everything come flooding back. It was horrible seeing Callum take all that abuse. And poor Ash too! 💔😭💔#Ballum #EastEndersJanuary 4, 2022
EastEnders next airs tomorrow at 7:30pm on BBC1— see our TV Guide for full listings.
