EastEnders star Scott Maslen has said that his character Jack has been behaving 'desperately' of late amid his marriage woes.
In Thursday night's episode, Jack cheated on his wife Denise (Diane Parish) with Stacey (Lacey Turner) - the ex of both his brother Max and late nephew Bradley - following yet another row with his other half.
"I think he's in a desperate place," said Maslen, who has played Jack for more than 16 years. "I don't think you're thinking about saving a marriage when it's falling apart. You realise it's falling apart so you're more focused on that, and it seems to be the dominant factor.
"If Denise was showing signs that she wanted it to work, then maybe he'd see those signs and he'd react accordingly, but he's seeing it constantly deteriorate, so there's only so much he can do. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink, so I think he thinks that's what is happening in his relationship, and it's literally at its end.
"But he is holding on, because he does love the family, he loves the kids, and it's a structure which is safe, and he is all about that because his life has been thrown all over the place before. He's in a very unstable place right now."
Jack's infidelity comes several months after he discovered that Denise had kissed Ravi (Aaron Thiara), but Maslen said that he does not believe Jack was motivated by revenge.
"There's no retaliation with Jack," he continued. "I think for him it's about wounding. Denise didn't sleep with [Ravi], but Jack's the sort of person where a kiss is just as bad, maybe worse.
"So, I think he has had that in his mind constantly, and he hasn't dealt with the Ravi thing properly yet, and that's just one of the elements that goes towards why he sleeps with Stacey.
"It is a big one, but as people will find out, it gets complicated and muddied. I don't think he's forgiven Denise."
EastEnders continues Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One and from 6am on iPlayer.
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