I'm glad Bex didn't sleep with him. So many young lads are like Shaki wanting sex and if a girl says no they try to make them feel bad by calling them frigid which makes them feel pressured to sleep with them.

Shakil with the silly hair should consider that it may be him or his hair that is the problem, and not Liar Bex.

Thanks.

I really felt for Bex tonight but I hope she doesn't take him back and realises that Shakil is only with her for 1 thing.

It's give me another reason not to like him aswell.

Unfortunately she thinks he is 'hot'

He's an odious creep who is tring to use blackmail.

I am disappointed they went down this route with Shaks because until now I liked him, and as Carmel clearly didn't bring him up in such a manner and Kush I don't believe would be like that I can only presume it is "typical" teenage bratish and loutish behaviour.

Disappointing

Shakil has to be one of the most obnoxious little shits ever to set foot in Albert Square. In this enlightened age that SOC has given EastEnders, he sticks out like a sore thumb. FGS bin him!

No doubt he has the same shitty hair stylist as Donald Trump.

Bex should dump the lowlife and get with J-B if you ask me.

Language has changed so much, when I was their age 'frigid' meant you wouldn't even kiss anyone, I was confused tonight... because Bex was far from that.

Glad she didn't sleep with greasy, lispy boy bun.

Yeah, because all teenage girls need a sleazy predator.

J-B is no predator!

Besides, any guy would be an upgrade on Shakil and his turd of a hair .

I had to laugh at yo-yo knickers Stacey giving Bexs advice I half expected her to say "Just drop em, lay back and think of England"

I'm not into liars, Teeks.

It's like a storyline from Grange Hill.

I still can't bring myself to get morally outraged at Shaki's behaviour. He is a self-obsessed and impulsive teenage boy and his characterisation is very true to life. For every sweet or geeky teenage boy out there there are ten more who simply want to fit in and do what they perceive to be 'cool' and what everyone else is doing. That doesn't excuse his behaviour, because of course it's wrong to put pressure on a girl who is clearly nervous and to get angry and call her names when she refuses, but your teenage years are mostly so utterly toxic and pressurised that I think it's futile holding teenage characters up to the standards that you would adult characters.

Sorry really Don't enjoy Shakil

Shakil behaves like a pelutant child most of the time and that behaviour simply isn't acceptable especially at the age of 16. And that age I think at that age you should be expected to carry yourself in a reasonably mature and respectable manner.

And to top it all off, Shakil has zero respect for women and only thinks of them as objects that he can get his leg over.
A lot of boys years younger than Shakil have more respect for woman than he does and his behaviour is pretty inexcusable. Hopefully Bex dumps the creep. Complete desperation and downright unpleasantness isn't an attractive quality in a person.

Yes it is.

I think it comes down to this idea of toxic masculinity. We live in a society which puts pressure on male and females to act a certain way, and teenagers are more susceptible to that pressure. I'm not sure it's true to say that Shakil has zero respect for women; he has been quite sweet to Bex on a couple of occasions in a way that's felt genuine to me, but his overriding desire is to be like other young guys who he probably thinks are going at it like rabbits. Remember how much he idolised Mark Jr when he was with him, probing him on his sex life in America and taking it personally when he saw how easily Mark was able to talk to Bex and Louise?

I think he's also got some major parental issues going on (Carmel clearly favours Kush, moving away from Shaks to live with him, barely even mentioning him in her first few months on the show, and even now he lives with her she rarely talks to him warmly in the way she does Kush. On top of that, he is openly resentful about the way his dad ignores him most of the time.) We had that scene where he opened up to Martin that he wanted someone like him as a father figure because he has no positive male role model in his life, and I think that says a lot about him. Don't forget that his dad dumped his mum for a much younger woman, and his mum is apparently quite sex mad and flings herself at any bloke that shows an interest. He probably has an over-inflated idea of how important sex is as a result.

I am not trying to excuse Shakil's behaviour; he was reprehensible last night. I do think the situation is a bit more complicated, however, then people on here are making out.

boring, repetitive storyline

we all know where its heading, of course she will sleep with him whether she is ready or not because "she loves him and doesnt want to loose him"

If it ends up with a pregnancy scare, I think I'll just have to stop watching.

Shaki is a horrible character played by a very week actor.

I'm so glad Bex said no and only hope she dumps the guy and finds someone decent who will respect her and her wishes.

Cant they Axe Shakil

Your intelligent responses are really refreshing. Okay then, my main beef is the actor, who is very poor and makes Shakil wholly unlikeable. A better actor may well have carried it off.

I was also disappointed with what happened. They should explore Shakil's relationship with his dad.

Thank you. I think the actor is fairly hit and miss but I don't have any major issues with him.