Avani gets the upper hand in EastEnders as Joel’s twisted plan backfires

Avani Nandra-Hart gets her own back on Joel Marshall (Picture: BBC/Kieron McCarron)

Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James) gets her own back on wicked Joel Marshall (Max Murray) in EastEnders next week.

As viewers of the BBC One soap have seen, the teen has been receiving vicious online comments from her peers, after they discovered she lost her virginity.

Poor Avani has been through quite a lot in the last six months – from her grandfather attempting to kill his ex-wife and her new spouse, to being strip searched at the police station.

In the aftermath, she’s turned to a life of drink and drugs and formed a troubling relationship with newcomer Joel.

Little did she realise, he had secretly recorded their dalliance and shown his friend Tommy Moon (Sonny Kendall). His dad Ross (Alex Walkinshaw) found the footage, and ordered Joel to delete it – but he didn’t.

It soon transpired that it was this behaviour that had sparked their move to Walford from Australia, after he upskirted a girl in his class.

Joel has become pally with Tommy Moon (Picture: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron) Things turn tense between Avani and Barney once again (Picture: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)

Luckily for Avani, her old pal Barney Mitchell (Lewis Bridgeman) – who is harbouring his true feelings for her – is on hand to support her. The two will kiss in this week’s episodes, but in upcoming scenes, things begin to change.

In the thick of the drama, Barney spectacularly puts his foot in it with Avani,as she tries to support him following a difficult time in the Mitchell household.

Not long after, things go from bad to worse when her mum Priya (Sophie Khan-Levy) intervenes, and coldly brushes off his attempt at a remorseful olive branch.

After a run-in with Amy, Joel coaxes Tommy into more troubling behaviour (Picture: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)

Meanwhile, Avani eventually scores the upper hand as she turns the tables on Joel, whose clumsy attempt to publicly humiliate her ends in utter failure.

He’s left furious, while she walks away with her head held high.

At the end of the week, Tommy sees red when his mum Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) tells him that she’s employed Amy Mitchell (Ellie Dadd) to babysit his younger siblings.

Turning to Joel for support, the lads are left feeling very awkward as Amy lets rip, tearing strips off them for their treatment of Avani.

Later, Joel decides that he and Tommy should use his dad Alfie’s (Shane Richie) credit card to buy pornography online.

Will Joel’s reign of terror ever end?