Eastenders Ruby and Juley

[haysi06]

I think that this relationship is not right. The wee Ruby girl only looks about 12 - it makes me uncomfortable to see her with the man Juley - I know its only a soap but it does annoy me

[Suzannew]

I couldn't agree more, some of the scenes have turned my stomach. I wonder if the programme has had any complaints?

[scorpio17]

i agree with you haysi06 i am not a big fan of eastenders but while i was switching over channels the other evening and there was a scene of the two of them i thought he looked far to old for such a young girl, and i also thought she was no more than 14 how old is she suppose to be by the way?

[squiggle]

I'm pretty sure she's 17.

[haysi06]

Hi Suzannew and Scorpio17- Thank goodness that its not just me!

I am told that the wee girl is meant to be 16 or 17 - but Juley has got to be in late 20s surely.

Plus - the other day the wee Slater lassie was in the pub with a hangover - won a bet but refused to buy a drink coz she wasnt old enough!

I have gone right off Eastenders - Emmerdale is the soap of choice nowadays!

[zipadeedodah]

I'm not overly keen on Eastenders, although watched it a little bit to see the lovely Nigel Harman! At first I was shocked as I thought Ruby was about 14-15, but I now know is meant to be 17. I would put Juley at about 25-26ish. It wouldn't put me off watching, but I do think even though she's meant to be 17, she just looks too young for him.

[aurelia]

the whole storyline has made my flesh crawl plus the fact that she looks so young - it almost seems voyeuristic watching it even though you know it's not real. I loved Dennis and was gutted when he was killed off - I'm not finding much to enjoy in it at the moment - too depressing and too many rubbish storylines

[mullein3]

its very depressing and the show should lighten up a bit..ruby is out of juleys league and its been very distastefull...eastenders seems to be full of murders and violence and it would be nice to see some scenes with humour!!

[Greggo']

Personally I don't see the problem. The soap is supposed to reflect real life situations. This kind of set up is certainly not unusual. A 17yr old girl dating a guy in his mid twenties is not really alien to real life, so why not have them together in the soap.

They had a similar story a few years back when Dr Trueman was dating Zoe Slater. He was in his thirties and Zoe was 18. Think the difference is that Zoe did look a lot older than Ruby.

[dmh205]

i really dont see any problem with the story line. Ruby is 17 and although Juley is older, we know exactly how come these kind of relationships are in the real world. girls are constantly with older men and so eastenders is showing a true picture of society. the show has also identifed the need for contraception which is very good i think.

[haysi06]

Thanks everyone who posted - I realise Eastenders is meant to reflect real life - but it still makes uncomfortable viewing for me personally. I thought that the Dr Trueman/Zoe relationship was ridiculous - he went out with her mother - or sister (whatever the known relationship was at that point). I have a choice and so I have chosen not to watch this storyline - .

[katerich48]

I have to agree with everyone here - it seems sleazy somehow.. Ruby looks about 15 and he looks 30 (even if he's not that old) The BBc really should have picked someone who looked a lot younger.