EastEnders confirms huge Cindy and Lauren showdown after shock exit ...

 The drama kicks off at Harvey's birthday party.

EastEnders fans can expect plenty of drama this week, and it involves none other than Cindy Beale and Lauren Branning.

New spoiler pics released by the BBC reveal that Harvey's birthday party erupts into chaos during Wednesday's episode (23 September) when Cindy finds out that Lauren knew about dad Max's affair with Priya Nandra-Hart.

The shocking news comes just two weeks after Max and Cindy's marriage ended within a matter of hours after he suffered a heart attack at their wedding reception, and confessed in the hospital that he no longer wanted to be with her.

Of course, when Cindy discovers that Lauren knew about her father's betrayal all along, she goes out of her way to expose her in front of everyone before planting her face in Harvey's birthday cake.

Cindy's actions leave Lauren stunned and she proceeds to slap her mother-in-law as her husband Peter is left to try and break up the altercation between his wife and mum.

The incident comes just a few days after Cindy ordered Priya to leave the Square after she discovered that Max is the biological father of Priya's unborn baby.

After going through Priya's things, Cindy found a DNA test confirming Max as the baby's dad and threatened to "destroy everything" for her.

When Ravi found Priat distressed, she revealed she was heading to Leeds to look after her cousin, though when he pushed her for answers, she admitted the truth, telling Ravi that the baby wasn't his.

Ravi was understandably furious, but later calmed down and begged Priya to stay and promised to raise the child as his own, but fearing Cindy's threats, Priya refused.

"I can't risk Max finding out," Priya said, sharing fears with Ravi that he would take the baby again.

She requested he give her until Christmas to find somewhere new to live for them and the children to live, and they could join her later on.

Leaving in a taxi, she then told Peter that Lauren was aware of Max’s affair, before sharing an emotional goodbye with Ravi, requesting he "take care of my babies".