EastEnders has delivered bombshell news for Penny Branning as she discovers she’s pregnant with her first child, fathered by new boyfriend Vinny Panesar.
EastEnders actress Kitty Castledine, who plays Penny Branning, has landed a huge pregnancy storyline on the soap.
The BBC One soap unveiled the shocking revelation after a family Sunday roast hosted by Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) alongside his partner, Denise Fox (Diane Parish), and brother, Max (Jake Wood).
The meal quickly descended into chaos when Jack discovered a pregnancy test in a carrier bag, initially presuming it belonged to Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams), before suspecting young mum Lily Slater (Lillia Turner) after witnessing suspicious behaviour between her and Ricky (Frankie Day).
Just as Jack prepared to confront his teenage daughter, Amy Mitchell (Ellie Dadd), about a potential pregnancy, his eldest daughter, Penny, awkwardly confessed to being the test’s owner. Despite her initial denial of being pregnant, Jack subsequently discovered the test was positive and criticised his daughter for being dishonest.
Kitty Castledine has portrayed Penny on the BBC One programme since January 2024. Discussing her character’s shocking revelation, the actress revealed Penny feels “scared” about the pregnancy test outcome, reports OK!.
She continued: “The reality of potentially becoming a disabled young mum is overwhelming and hard to take in. She goes through waves of emotion, just like many new mums do when they find out they’re unexpectedly pregnant.
“The more she opens up to people, the more she realises she has a support network around her. She also wants to buy herself some time to process everything, figure out how she truly feels about it, and decide what she plans to do.”
Kitty also confirmed Penny’s intentions to keep the pregnancy a secret, “She wants to bury her head in the sand and hide from the reality of potentially being pregnant”, she added.
“The idea of becoming not only a young mum, but a young mum who is disabled, is something she isn’t ready to face. She’s very independent and wouldn’t lean on someone unless she absolutely had to. It brings up a lot of feelings she wasn’t prepared to confront.”
Jack Branning has always shared a troubled relationship with his eldest daughter, Penny, who has spent the majority of her life in France with her mother, Selina. She was left permanently paralysed after both she and Selina were mown down in a revenge attack targeting Jack, who had accepted payment from a drugs baron in exchange for tip-offs.
Penny’s spinal cord was severed during the harrowing ordeal, leaving her paralysed from the waist down and reliant on a wheelchair.
Kitty Castledine’s health battle
Away from the BBC soap, Kitty, 24, is herself a wheelchair user, having developed a life-changing condition during childhood.
The actress was just seven years old when she suffered a medical emergency, leading to her hospitalisation and subsequent diagnosis with transverse myelitis. The rare and serious condition affects the central nervous system, striking around 300 Britons annually.
As a result of her immune system attacking her spinal cord, Kitty now relies on a wheelchair.
Kitty’s mother, Lucy Alexander, familiar to audiences from Homes Under the Hammer, previously spoke candidly about her daughter’s diagnosis on the podcast White Wine Question Time back in 2019.
Reflecting on how her daughter’s illness transformed their lives, Lucy shared: “It’s been the making of us as a family and of her. It’s really phenomenal how I’ve watched a kid – she’s a young woman now – change her life and turn it around, reports The Express.
She went on to say, “Still, every day it takes my breath away to see her in a wheelchair wheeling up to me. It’s tough, it’s b****y tough.
“It makes you so much more selfless, it gives you strength, things that couldn’t bother me before I couldn’t give a flying f*** about. I can connect with people who are sad or grieving like I couldn’t before. I have deeper connections with people.”
Kitty’s famous parents
Kitty boasts an impressive television pedigree. Her mother, Lucy Alexander, is a recognisable face on British screens, fronting popular daytime programmes including A Place In The Sun and Homes Under The Hammer.
Her father is former Premier League footballer Stewart Castledine, who played for 9 years for Wimbledon. He also turned out for Wycombe in the second tier.
Stewart has also appeared on television, fronting BBC One’s Big Strong Boys and Houses Behaving Badly.
Stewart and Lucy are reported to have tied the knot in 2000, at a ceremony in Richmond, London, following an introduction through a mutual acquaintance.
The couple have two children, including Kitty and a son called Leo Castledine, 20, who is also a footballer and currently plays for Middlesbrough.
Prior to his present contract, Leo was on loan at Huddersfield Town from Premier League side Chelsea. He has also represented England at the U19 level on five occasions.
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One and iPlayer
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
