As if the Carter family didn’t have enough secrets in EastEnders – now it has been revealed that Dean Wicks has a secret love child.

According to MailOnline, Dean’s mum Shirley Carter (Linda Henry) sets out on a mission to find her granddaughter after discovering Shabnam Masood (Rakhee Thakrar) had a secret daughter following a one-night stand with Dean (Matt Di Angelo).

Pictures taken during on location filming for the BBC soap show Linda as Shirley visiting an address on a residential estate, where she is apparently met with resistance and mistrust by the girl’s foster father.

Other pictures, taken through the doorway of the house, show a young girl in school uniform sitting on a sofa reading a book. She is believed to be Shirley’s grandchild.

According to sources, the baby girl was fostered after Shabnam abandoned her on a doorstep in 2008 – nine months after having sex with Dean in a nightclub toilet. Dean was apparently too drunk to remember the incident.

Rakhee Thakrar plays Shabnam Masood in EastEnders (BBC)
Rakhee Thakrar plays Shabnam Masood in EastEnders (BBC)

Wild child Shabnam, who was previously played by actress Zahra Ahmadi, left Walford in 2008 to stay with relatives in Pakistan and returned a devout Muslim in 2014.

She first revealed she had a secret child in January when she confided in friend Stacey Branning (Lacey Turner).

Dean Wicks doesn't even know he has fathered the child (BBC)
Dean Wicks doesn’t even know he has fathered the child (BBC)

According to reports, Shabnam’s father Masood (Nitin Ganatra) and his friend Jane Beale (Laurie Brett) also visit the house looking for the girl.