Reiss Colwell (Jonny Freeman) has got himself in some serious trouble in recent EastEnders scenes, and he’s digging himself even bigger holes to try and get out of it.
Having already scammed Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) in a bid to pay for wife Debbie’s care, Reiss is alarmed in upcoming scenes when the care home informs him that if he can’t pay his debts then Debbie will be moved.
‘He’s scrambling around but he’s optimistic that it’s all going to work out,’ actor Jonny Freeman explained. ‘I think there’s optimism, but also naivety, and obviously as things start to creak and crumble, Reiss starts to realise that he’s doing things for desperate measure.
‘I suppose through all of it, he’s losing a sense of his moral compass as he’s trying to do right by Debbie, and he’s also trying to do right by Sonia.’
Under pressure, he plans to scam Sharon again, though he backtracks when she grows emotional about Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters).
‘Sharon explains how much she values Reiss’ support and notes how highly Keanu regarded him, and how his faith in Reiss secured him the job,’ Jonny revealed.
‘Reiss instantly regrets his actions and backtracks by vowing to help Sharon find a loophole to avoid the debt, but Reiss is out of options, and soon realises that he has no other option but to continue to scam her.
After receiving some good news from Sonia, Reiss decides to go ahead with the scam, telling Sharon that the charge on her outstanding VAT receipt still stands.
‘I think there are probably many other things Reiss could have done in that moment, but he’s not thinking straight and is trying to fix things as quickly as possible.’
When Sharon agrees to pay the debt, Reiss is thrilled, though he is soon in a risky situation when Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) arrives and begins asking questions.
‘He’s terrified. Sharon implicitly trusts Reiss, but Phil is going to take much more convincing so his perceived simple plan has just got a whole lot more difficult.’
Speaking about the storyline to Metro.co.uk at the Radio Times Soap Awards, Jonny said: ‘The man’s under a lot of pressure. He’s doing his best but he’s not making a great stab of it.
‘I think anything that could go wrong for him is going wrong for him, and he’s scrambling around. I’m sure if you could see his legs under water they’d be going like the Clappers!’
Will Reiss find a way out of his mess, or will he be caught out and forced to pay a hefty price?
