Gray Atkins’ children will witness his abuse towards their mum Chantelle in EastEnders, actor Toby-Alexander Smith has hinted.
Fans of the BBC soap have watched in horror and disgust as the solicitor has taken out his anger on his hairdresser wife with his fists.
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The vile bully even punched his pregnant wife in the stomach, causing her to lose their unborn baby, and recently broke her arm in another unprovoked attack.
In particularly upsetting scenes last month, Gray raped Chantelle just hours after they renewed their wedding vows.
Unsurprisingly, viewers have declared they HATE the character, with some even wishing him dead.
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While soap boss Kate Oates has hinted that the wife beater could well be redeemed, actor Toby-Alexander Smith has now revealed that things will undoubtedly get worse before they get better.
Children are very savvy with the arguments that their parents have.
In quotes printed on Mirror.co.uk, he hinted that Gray and Chantelle’s two children Mia and Mackenzie could actually witness the domestic abuse in what would prove to be extremely distressing scenes.
Speaking on the red carpet of the NTAs, he said: “The issue is that his problems are so deep-rooted that it’s going to take more than a couple of therapy sessions for him to improve his behaviour and the fact is that it’s going to take a lot for him to see the error of his ways.”
He continued to explain that Gray is “disillusioned by what he’s doing at the moment” and said that only “something really big” would make him change.
“A lot of his issues stem from how his father treated his mother, which is very often the case with abusive partners. It’s not an excuse but it gives us more of an understanding of where it’s actually come from.
“But again, it’s moving forward, it’s trying to work out on a deeper level on how it’s going to happen.”
Questioned on whether the children would witness the abuse, he said: “It’s certainly something that we are exploring because it’s a very important thing to consider that children are very savvy with the arguments that their parents have.”
Like any parent, Chantelle is extremely protective of her kids and wary of having another because of Gray’s violent behaviour…
If Mia and Mackenzie witness his vile acts, could it be the trigger to force Chantelle to leave for good? Or might she even kill Gray as some fans fear?
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