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EastEnders under fire over excessive swearing before the watershed

And the foul language wasn't the only thing viewers weren't happy about...

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EastEnders viewers finally found out Michelle’s secret last night, but they weren’t impressed.

It turns out Michelle’s been having an affair with a 17-year-old pupil.

“We were obsessed with each other,” she explained.

But it wasn’t the relationship that had viewers riled – it was the swearing before the watershed.

As Michelle and Sharon had a late-night war of words in the 7.30pm episode, they blurted out four swear words between them.

Fans were unimpressed as they said bl**dy, a**e, sh**ging, and ba***rd and took to Twitter to complain about the language.

Some, however, felt it made the show more realistic:

According to Digital Spy, 86 people complained to Ofcom about the foul language, and the broadcasting regulator is “assessing the complaints before deciding whether to investigate or not”.

It’s not just the swearing that had people up in arms about last night’s episode, as viewer Katie Zivarts pointed out, tweeting: “Everyone’s complaining about the bad language… im complaining more it was the most boring episode ever!” (sic)

In what was almost a two-hander, middle-aged mother Michelle had a heart-to-heart with best pal Sharon, who was raging after discovering husband Phil is the father to Denise’s baby.

Sharon announced that she was done with Phil and wanted to return to America with Michelle.

Michelle was forced to admit that she wasn’t returning home to the States to her husband Tim.

She then began to ramble about cellulite and grey roots, adding: “I look in the mirror and there I am, suddenly 45 with bingo wings.”

Read more: Davina McCall flashes Holly and Phil on This Morning!

Michelle then admitted her husband didn’t want to have sex with her anymore.

“I am flabby and irritating. How do you say, ‘Why don’t you fancy me anymore?'” she added.

After insulting Sharon’s fake tan and slating life in Albert Square, Michelle stormed out to sit on dad Arthur’s bench.

Sharon followed her and the truth about her affair with the 17-year-old eventually tumbled out.

“You tell me the truth Michelle… what have you done?” Shazza pushed.

“I threw myself into work, joined a choir, posted lots of pictures…” she said.

And then she revealed… “I fell in love, madly, like an idiot, like I forgot… so long being ignored… you can’t even call it cheating.

“It was like I woke up… a whole year together, we were obsessed with each other. He couldn’t keep his hands off me. It wasn’t just about sex, it was the fun, the energy. He wanted me. He turned my head.”

Read more: EastEnders’ Mick Carter accused of racism

It turned our stomachs!

With fans threatening to turn off following this latest episode, can the show win them back round?


Carena Crawford
Associate Editor (Soaps)