In emotional EastEnders scenes last night (Monday, April 24), Zack Hudson (James Farrar) announced that he was HIV positive at the Vic after being provoked by Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden).
After he dropped the bombshell, eagle-eyed EastEnders fans noticed how similar it was to the iconic soap moment when Mark Fowler (Todd Carty) revealed that he was HIV positive in front of everyone at the Vic in 1996 after also being riled up by a Mitchell.
During last night's episode, Martin Fowler (James Bye) called out Ben for cheating during their boxing match as Ben knocked him out after the bell rang, yet was still crowned the winner.
Earlier in the episode, Ben's world came crashing down when he was approached by a police officer, who revealed that his rapist Lewis Butler had been arrested for another sexual assault. Although Ben plucked up the courage to report Lewis' attack, he was devastated when the case was dropped for lack of evidence.
And the fact that Lewis went on to ruin another man's life left Ben in shock.
Already reeling from the news, a struggling Ben got into a heated argument with Martin and insulted the market trader.
Zack soon stepped in to support his best friend and Ben accused him of being a coward for backing out of the boxing match at the gym.
After initially agreeing to sign up for a match, Zack backed out after realising he'd have to do a blood test, that would reveal his HIV. And at the Vic, Ben attacked him with a barrage of nasty insults to try and get Zack to fight him.
But when Ben made a vile comment about Zack not becoming a father after tragically losing his baby daughter Peach, he exploded and lashed out at Ben.
A distraught Zack then told the shocked pub that the reason he dropped out was because he's HIV positive.
Fans liked how similar it was to when Mark Fowler, who was Martin's brother, revealed his HIV diagnosis publicly after he defiantly showed up to the Vic despite being barred by Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor) because of her hate campaign against him.
Mark first stepped onto the Square in 1985 as a troublesome teenager and later returned to Walford in 1990 as a changed man.
He went down in history as the first mainstream soap character to be diagnosed with HIV and was at the forefront of some major storylines during his time on the Square.
Mark lived with HIV for 13 years before tragically losing his life to an AIDS-related illness in 2004. His diagnosis made a huge impact in raising awareness of the issue and went down as Walford's most memorable residents.
EastEnders fans loved seeing the connection to that iconic scene in tonight's episode...
I like how Zack comes out in a similar way mark come out about his HIV by being provoked in the pub by a Mitchell #eastendersApril 24, 2023
Zack is so brave and strong I'm so proud of him telling everyone about his HIV although he didn't have too. 💔😭. That end scene was so similar to when Mark Fowler revealed his HIV publicly. Zack's HIV Storyline is being handled so well. #EastEnders pic.twitter.com/ULrJdK5TaSApril 24, 2023
1996-2023"I'm HIV positive." 💔#EastEnders @THTorguk pic.twitter.com/ZiIY9CkoGeApril 24, 2023
EastEnders continues tonight at 7:30pm on BBC One.
