Eastenders reveal new love interest for Ben Mitchell

EastEnders

bosses have confirmed that show newcomer Paul Coker will become a new love interest for Ben Mitchell later this year.

The upcoming romantic storyline was teased in a new summer trailer for the BBC soap, which sees the the pair sharing a kiss.

Played by Jonny Labey, Paul is the grandson of established characters Les and Pam Coker, and will make his onscreen debut in June.

Billed as fun, honest and always the centre of attention, Paul heads to Albert Square to join his family after spending two years abroad as a club rep.

Speaking of his casting, Labey commented: “I am overjoyed to have been given the role of Paul Coker and am thrilled to be joining the show at such a prevalent time as it marks its 30th anniversary.

“I know I’ve got a lot of work to do to live up to the talent I shall be working with, but I have never felt more welcome and cannot wait to get started.”

With the character of Paul being described by bosses as “completely comfortable in who he is”, the relationship might spell big changes for Phil Mitchell’s son Ben, who viewers have seen struggle to celebrate his own sexuality over the last few years.

And just because we like to keep you updated on these things, the trailer also gave us a brief glimpse of Paul’s mighty-fine looking bod (which mainly prompted us to scream “GET OUT THE WAY LES!”)

To celebrate Eastenders’ 30th anniversary earlier this year, we took a look back at some of the most ground-breaking gay moments in soap history – click here to see if you agree with our choices.

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