EastEnders viewers were left utterly sickened tonight as Gray Atkins was hailed a "hero" by wife Chantelle's own parents just moments after he beat and potentially raped her.
Gray, played by actor Toby-Alexander Smith, was seething with rage this evening after being confronted by Chantelle's dad, who said that he knew that he had lost his job.
A furious Gray stormed home after Mitch offered him money and lashed out at Chantelle.
Squaring up to her, he snarled: "How did he find out, Chantelle?"
"I don't know," she replied nervously.
Gray ranted: "They didn't take you back at the salon so you went fishing for extra hours, making us look desperate."
He continued: "Only two people could have told him and they are in this room... it wasn't me, so who does it leave Chantelle?"
"Me," she replied tentatively.
Gray then brutally punched Chantelle, leading her to cry out as she fell to the floor.
Taking off his tie, he glared at his terrified wife and told her threateningly: "We're supposed to be a team."
Later, Gray was seen leaving his house looking dishevelled, the top buttons of his shirt undone and without a tie.
He bumped into Karen, who managed to usher him into the pub, where he was surprised by his friends and family raising a glass to him after hearing the news he had been sacked.
Sonia announced to everyone that he was a "hero" for defending Whitney as everyone cheered.
Horrified fans took to Twitter to comment, with one tweeting: "Urgh, Gray getting praised in front of everyone after what he’s just done to his wife #EastEnders."
While another commented: "#Eastenders is disturbing now."
A third raged: "He beat her, raped her and now gets praise #EastEnders."
*EastEnders returns on Monday at 8pm on BBC One
