THIS WEEK:

Catfight ahead for Joe

THESE are the heartwarming scenes as Whitney Dean and Lee Carter see their baby for the very first time. The couple have had their ups and downs since she found out she was pregnant.

Tormented Lee was not sure if he was ready to be a dad, while Whitney was heartbroken when she caught chlamydia and discovered her man had a one-night stand with Abi Branning.

As the couple attend their first scan together, they could not be happier and Whitney beams with joy as she finally gets everything she ever wanted.

But Shona McGarty, who has played the troubled babe for the last eight years, teased that we can expect more drama over the coming months.

She even hinted we could see the return of her brother Ryan Malloy.

Shona said: “At the moment she is in the best place she has ever been, she is pregnant and about to get married and that is all Whitney has ever wanted – to be part of a big family and to have her own children to love. So being with the MERCEDES McQueen returns from prison desperate to win back her fiancé Joe Roscoe.

But she doesn’t know that while she’s been inside on drugs charges, the soap’s resident bunny-boiler Joanne Cardsley has been getting her claws into Joe.

Viewers have already seen her fantasising about Joe proposing before searching online for the perfect wedding dress. And unsuspecting Joe has no idea that Joanne has lined him up as her future husband. Everything is going to plan for Joanne until Mercedes bursts back into the village more determined than ever to make things up to Joe.

But Joanne’s a woman who knows exactly how to get what she wants, so there’s no-way she’s going to let Mercedes stand in the way of her relationship. Viewers will have to wait to see how Joe handles the situation.

A show insider said: “Mercedes is desperate to make things up with Joe. He was furious when she was banged up for drugs. “But she has no idea what he has been up to behind her back with Joanne.

“Viewers saw what Joanne was like after her affair with Louis Loveday. She became unstable as she did everything she could to steal him from his wife Simone.

“Joe has no idea what she is capable of, while Mercedes just wants his forgiveness.

“It’s going to be an interesting time for all concerned. Even if Joe chooses Mercedes, it doesn’t mean the end of the dream for Joanne.” Watch things unfold on the Channel 4 soap when Mercedes returns to the village a week on

Wednesday.