AFTER struggling with her eating disorder, Honey Mitchell finds signs that Ben Mitchell may be going through a similar ordeal.
The EastEnders favourite played by Emma Barton makes a shocking discovery about him next week.
Max Bowden’s character, the troublemaker, has had a difficult time.
Ben has had to face the murder of Lola Pearce, one of his greatest friends and the mother of his daughter Lexi, after being raped by Lewis Butler, which nearly led to the breakup of his marriage.
When Lola was diagnosed with a brain tumor, she made the most of the limited time she had left to live, but the stress of raising Lexi and the resultant trauma from his rape put Ben in a difficult situation.
He soon realized that the only thing he could control was his food and calorie consumption.
Ben is suffering with thoughts of inadequacy ahead of Jay Brown’s (Jamie Borthwick) parenting hearing, which airs next week on BBC One.
When Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) tries to organize a celebration in The Vic that night, he becomes evasive.
Later, Ben appears to be on track to skip his court date entirely when he vents his anger on a gym bag at The Boxing Den, until George Knight (Colin Salmon) intervenes.
Ben is advised by George to be there for Lexi regardless of how he feels – how will he react?
Jay is relieved when Ben makes it after all, but later at The Vic, Honey Mitchell (Emma Barton) notices worried Ben’s eating habits.
Honey struggled with weight disorders as a teenager and subsequently, after her ex-partner Adam Bateman cheated on her repeatedly.
This was enough for her to notice Ben’s aversion to food.
She follows Ben home and attempts to open up to him, discussing her own bulimia experiences.
Ben strikes out and orders Honey to leave, unable to convey his anguish.
Ben sobs after she’s gone, feeling completely alone.
Later in the film, Honey urges a frightened Callum Highway (Tony Clay) to attempt to persuade Ben to open up to him, but she refuses to violate Ben’s trust.
Ben sees them together and lashes out at Honey again, unaware that she is hiding his secret, only for Billy and Jay to intervene.
Lexi urges that Ben apologize to Honey, and the two go out for coffee afterwards.
Honey urges Ben to let Callum in, and it appears like Ben would do so until a tense discussion with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) prompts Ben to purge once more.
Callum, on the other hand, arrives home early and captures Ben, but when he tries to talk to him, things go tragically wrong.
While Ben is pushing everyone away, he receives unexpected help from Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace).
Kat is surprised to see Ben in such bad shape as he hits another bag at the Boxing Den.
She quickly discovers why he is upset and shares her perspective as a rape survivor.
Ben is immediately warned – he’ll destroy himself and everyone he loves if he doesn’t seek help.
This leads him to reluctantly agree to try a support group, with Kat accompanying him.
Will Ben really get the help he needs?
How can Honey help him further?
EastEnders airs from Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One.
