Kathy Beale discovers Phil Mitchell’s shocking plan that would destroy Lexi Pearce’s life forever in EastEnders

Despite having been divorced for over 25 years, Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) can still read Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) like a book – a skill which proved useful in recent EastEnders scenes.

After receiving a phone call from Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) begging him to help reunite him with daughter Lexi Pearce (Isabella Brown) following his arrest, Phil conjured up a plan to sneak Ben and Lexi out of the country.

To do this, Phil offered to babysit Lexi while Callum Highway and Jay Brown (Tony Clay and Jamie Borthwick) went to Ben’s bail hearing – something which struck Kathy as odd.

While Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) asked why he hadn’t been asked to babysit, Honey Mitchell (Emma Barton) pointed out how nice it was of Phil to offer.

Kathy discovered Phil’s dangerous plan

It was then that Kathy reminded them that Phil doesn’t simply do nice things for other people, which left her wondering if he had an ulterior motive for his actions.

Sure enough, when the trio arrived at Ben’s flat, they found Phil packing a suitcase for Lexi, having secured two fake passports for her and Ben to make an escape.

Billy was horrified that Phil was prepared to take Lexi away from him so soon after losing Lola Pearce, while Kathy pleaded with him not to make such a stupid mistake.

Though Phil argued that Ben needed to be with Lexi, Kathy pointed out that she would still have the rest of her family around her to look after her should Ben be sent down, and revealed that that was much better than a life on the run.

Viewers will remember that Kathy spent nine years on the run after being forced to fake her own death in South Africa by abusive husband Gavin Sullivan – something that has caused plenty of tension between her and Phil in the time since Ben’s arrest.

While Ben faced questioning from police over the fraud he had committed in America last year, Kathy and Phil tore strips off each other for their parenting – or lack of – blaming each other for the current mess their son was in.

Thankfully, Phil’s plan was brought to an abrupt halt by the courts, who deemed Ben a flight risk and refused to grant him bail.

Was Phil correct to try and reunite Lexi and Ben and send them on the run, or will Kathy prove to be right?