EastEnders’ Joel branded a ‘disgusting little pervert’ as Ross makes a bone-chilling discovery

Ross Marshall (Alex Walkinshaw) has finally flipped over Joel’s (Max Murray) disgusting behaviour in EastEnders.

It became immediately clear when the father and son arrived in Walford alongside Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig) earlier this year that they were hiding a fair few skeletons in their closet.

They couldn’t return to their home in Australia, as Joel had upskirted a pupil in his class, and Ross had paid her family $50,000 in exchange for their silence.

He’s since enacted havoc on the residents of Albert Square, impregnating Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James) and introducing new mate Tommy Moon (Sonny Kendall) to dangerous adult content online.

Later, Joel showed Tommy videos made by a disgusting influencer, who degrades women.

Joel thought this was an appropriate way to talk about the opposite sex, branding his own mum a ‘slapper’, talking about how she abandoned him as a child.

He also sexually assaulted a passenger on the London Underground in an utterly vile move, with Vicki paying off the victim.

Earlier this week, Joel discovered some big news about his estranged mother Cleo, that left him reeling.

Who is Joel’s mum Cleo, and what happened to her?

Other than Joel’s derogatory comments about his mum, we don’t know an awful lot about her.

She contacted Ross to inform him that she was remarrying, and despite us finally finding out her name, fans are still convinced that she is none other than Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan), using a pseudonym.

This was fuelled by him yelling: ‘Well, you ain’t my mum, you don’t get to tell me what to do!’ during a row with Vicki, which seemed to echo a very famous ‘Enders quote.

As long-term fans will remember, back in 2005, Zoe screamed: ‘You can’t tell me what to do, you ain’t my mother!’, as her mum Kat (Jessie Wallace) howled back: ‘Yes I am!’

Joel’s version coincidentally aired in the same week that Zoe returned after 20 years.

How has Joel reacted to the news about Cleo?

Well, rather unsurprisingly, he hasn’t taken it well.

As we saw, he headed to The Vic to catch up with Tommy – and suggested they make things more exciting by stealing some booze from the barrel store.

It didn’t take long for the lads to be discovered, and Ross dragged Joel home. As he was being carted out of the pub he spurted a number of derogatory and extremely concerning comments about Kat.

Back at home, Ross made another worrying discovery…

What did Ross find on Joel’s laptop?

In tonight’s episode, Ross attempted to worm his way into Joel’s mindset and learn the extent of his issues.

Joel told his dad that as a man he has no rights, and continued to tear strips off Kat.

Ross was at a loose end with what to say, and suggested they have a beer together and a heart to heart. Sitting down, Joel opened his laptop and played a video from the influencer he’s a fan of.

Ross compared the comments to something a comedian would say on TV in the 80s – laden with sexism and misogyny. However, when alone, Ross was startled by the extend the uploader went with this vile words.

With Joel out of the room, Ross then spied an email that contained a video of a girl assaulted. To make matters worse, he then found countless other clips of girls being upskirted and voyeurism.

Furious, he charged into the kitchen with the laptop and drenched it under the sink, revolted at what his son was capable of.

As he branded him a ‘revolting, arrogant, disgusting little pervert’, Joel pleaded for forgiveness.

But Ross wasn’t in the forgiving mood, telling him that not only does he need help, but it’s clear there’s something wrong with him.

What will Joel’s next move be?