Jay Brown explodes at Phil Mitchell over his plan to snatch Lexi Pearce as he makes a big promise in EastEnders

Phil Mitchell’s (Steve McFadden) plan to snatch Lexi Pearce (Isabella Brown) was thankfully discovered in recent EastEnders scenes before he could get too far, but that didn’t stop Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) from being absolutely fuming.

Following Ben Mitchell’s (Max Bowden) arrest for fraud earlier this week, Phil promised to help him leave the country with Lexi so that they wouldn’t be separated.

However, the plan was soon rumbled by Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), who was suspicious of Phil offering to babysit.

When she and Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) found Phil packing a bag for Lexi, they were furious, and urged him to reconsider.

In the end, Phil’s plan fell apart when Ben was denied bail, much to the relief of the rest of the family.

When Jay arrived home from court, he soon found Lexi’s packed bag and the fake passport Phil had got hold of, and demanded to know what was going on.

Though Phil was quick to point out that Kathy and Billy had talked him out of the idea and it would have come to anything with Ben not getting bail anyway, jay was furious that he would even consider the idea.

When Phil revealed that Ben wouldn’t be able to cope being separated from his daughter, Jay explained that he would be the same, and having just lost Lola, Lexi was the only person who had got him through the last year.

Jay suggested that Phil saw him and Callum Highway (Tony Clay) as nothing more than Lexi’s babysitters, and Phil soon apologised and agreed that they were just as much her dads as Ben was.

Later, Jay proved just how good a dad he is when he comforted Lexi over Ben’s situation.

When she expressed regret at being so angry with Ben, he assured her that it was okay to be angry, as it proved they loved him.

Lexi revealed that she wished she could see him again, and Jay reassured her that one day she would, and that, in the meantime, he would write to her.

Jay explained that just because Ben was away, it didn’t mean he loved her any less, and promised that he and Callum would be there for her in Ben’s absence and they would all be alright.