EastEnders star Kitty Castledine has revealed Penny Branning’s future fears ahead of her surprise pregnancy storyline. Scenes next week will see the character confirm she is expecting a baby in dramatic fashion to the family when a pregnancy test is happened upon by dad Jack.

During a Branning Sunday lunch, Jack reveals his discovery to Denise, and “in typical Branning fashion, nothing in this household can ever remain a secret”.

Amid the chaos and fingers being pointed around over who it belongs to, Penny confirms the test is hers, which causes “confusion”. She initially lies about it being negative, though is shocked when her father expresses relief, subsequently confirming it was in fact positive.

“Jack immediately can’t believe what he is hearing and wants to talk it through, but Denise wants to protect Penny’s privacy, given that they are at a family dinner and it’s an intense and private conversation to have,” Kitty explained.

“Penny and Jack’s relationship is always rocky – one small move can offset the harmony, and, in this instance, Penny perceives Jack to be reacting negatively.”

Opening up about Penny’s initial plans to keep the news a secret, Kitty admitted that her character “wants to bury her head in the sand and hide from the reality of potentially being pregnant”, adding that she has fears about her future.

“The idea of becoming not only a young mum, but a young mum who is disabled, is something she isn’t ready to face,” the star said. “She’s very independent and wouldn’t lean on someone unless she absolutely had to. It brings up a lot of feelings she wasn’t prepared to confront.”

The actor further revealed that Penny is “scared”, hence why she initially lied about the outcome of the test, and that the idea of being a disabled young mum is “overwhelming and hard to take in”.

“She goes through waves of emotion, just like many new mums do when they find out they’re unexpectedly pregnant,” she reflected. “The more she opens up to people, the more she realises she has a support network around her.

“She also wants to buy herself some time to process everything and figure out how she truly feels about it and what she plans to do.”