Mel Owen and Ray's wife personal trainer
Soaps

EastEnders fans accuse soap of ripping off another BBC TV show

Scenes with Mel Owen and her personal trainer seemed familiar...

EastEnders fans had a peculiar sense of déjà vu when Mel Owen hired a new personal trainer to help her keep fit.

In scenes shown last night (Tuesday 27 November), Mel sought out the trainer to get fit ahead of her upcoming wedding.

Ray Kelly's wife
Mel hired a new personal trainer… Buy why? (Credit: BBC)

Read more: Former EastEnders star Lisa Hammond hits out at BBC soap

But, as fans worked out Mel’s cunning plan, they also realised they’d seen it before – quite recently in fact!

Fans were a bit confused when, out of the blue, Mel was seen jogging with a woman they hadn’t been introduced to before.

Even stranger, Mel had told the woman her name was Claire, and not Mel.

Ray and his secret family
Ray has been hiding a secret wife and son from his fiancée Mel (Credit: BBC)

Read more: EastEnders SPOILER: Walford rocked by shock death this Christmas!?

However, they soon realised the mystery woman is Ray’s ‘secret’ wife.

Earlier this year, Mel followed boyfriend Ray after becoming suspicious about his secretive behaviour, and discovered he already has a wife and child.

However she later agreed to marry him, despite knowing he is duping her.

Ray is hiding a big secret… But so is Mel! (Credit: BBC)

With their wedding just around the corner, Mel is on a mission to expose Ray – and getting closer to his wife seems to be one step on the journey.

After their training session, the pair went for a drink in the Queen Vic and it became more obvious what Mel is plotting…

But fans called out the soap for ripping off recent BBC drama Age Before Beauty, starring Robson Green.

Age Before Beauty starred Lisa Riley and Robson Green (Credit: BBC)

One tweeted: “Ooh are they doing an #AgeBeforeBeauty on #EastEnders Mel is Bel and her PT is Lorilei but it’s the other way round cos the PT is the wife and Mel is the other women. Ray’s double life #ThePlotThickens.”

Another commented: “#Eastenders ripping off the Drama series ‘Age before beauty’ with the whole Mel meeting up with the other woman who just happens to be a personal trainer But just not doing it as well! @bbceastenders.”

A third added: “God. Mel yarning on about her life to his other wife is a copy of Age Before Beauty (which was good) #EastEnders.”

“Did Mel watch Age Before Beauty by any chance?” joked another.

Age Before Beauty – written and produced by the lady behind Poldark, Debbie Horsfield – followed the fortunes of Bel, whose husband Wes started an affair with personal trainer Lorelei.

After finding out about the affair, Bel did not confront her husband but, instead, decided to get closer to Lorelei by signing up for personal training sessions with her.

Are you looking forward to seeing Ray get his comeuppance? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!


Helen Fear
TV Editor

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