*Warning: Contains spoilers for Wednesday’s second EastEnders episode

(3rd July 2024), currently available on BBC iPlayer.*

EastEnders has confirmed the truth about the mysterious Maya Houssain (Bharti Patel).

The BBC One soap introduced a new friend for Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman)

a few weeks ago amid his feelings of loneliness.

However, it soon became clear that Maya had an ulterior motive amidst their friendship and came under the suspicion of Harvey’s partner Jean Slater (Gillian Wright).

After catching Maya rifling through the draws of the Slater kitchen, Jean voiced her suspicions to Harvey who spoke with Maya and she told him she was struggling with poverty and her home was due to be repossessed, prompting Harvey to lend her money.

In Tuesday’s episode, Harvey learned that this man was Maya’s husband Abdul (Sanjiv Hayre) and he was not dead but deeply traumatised.

After Maya emerged and explained the situation, Harvey discovered that Abdul was the man who his far-right terrorist son Aaron Monroe (played by Charlie Wenham) had beaten almost to death.

As Harvey called out Maya’s lies, she called out Harvey for providing Aaron with a false alibi for the attack on Abdul. While Harvey noted that he turned on Aaron and even called the police on him, Maya said that Aaron escaped justice for what happened to Abdul.

Since the attack, Maya’s family life has fallen apart and her children have since left home she is a full-time carer for Abdul and can’t afford to keep their home together, suggesting that Harvey owes her for what he did.