Hollyoaks reveals how Eric Foster is caught out in spiking story

 Maxine is on to him.

Hollyoaks has revealed how Eric Foster has been caught out in the show's dramatic spiking storyline.

The soap is ramping up its misogyny storyline as Maxine is currently recovering from an attack and Lizzie's drink was recently spiked. In this episode, Verity confronted Maxine over her plan to lure drink spikers to Grace's bar, but Maxine defended herself.

"What am I supposed to do, Verity? Just stay inside forever? I can’t do nothing. My sister was spiked, I was attacked. It’s not safe for you, for me, for any of us," Maxine said.

Verity warned her she’ll try to stop her, but Maxine said there was nothing she can do — her mind clearly made up.

Meanwhile, spiker Eric received a text from Men First asking if he got into the party at the club later that night. He overheard Grace worrying about the lack of staff she has on shift that night, while she also mentioned CCTV footage.

Eric, fearing the CCTV footage could incriminate him, asked her to give him a trial shift: “If that spiker’s still out there, you’re going to need all the eyes you can get.” Grace reluctantly agreed.

Later, Eric worked the shift and eyed the CCTV cameras in the club.

He texted the Men First group: “Slagxine has no idea what’s in store for her. I’m in the perfect position, no camera blunders, and no mistakes tonight.”

Maxine pretended to be drunk in the club and asked Beau to buy her a round of drinks, which he did.

Off-screen, it was implied that Eric spiked one of the drinks. Maxine then tested the drink with a drug detection strip and it came out positive. She accused Beau of being the spiker while Eric smirked on.

“My drink has just tested positive for drugs. The drink that you gave me right after I saw you put something in your pocket,” Maxine said.

Beau denied everything and revealed it was his bank card he put into his pocket. Maxine demanded to see the club CCTV that instant and Eric said he would “line up the footage” for her right that second.

The footage was inconclusive, however, and Zoe said there was no proof Beau spiked anyone. Eric pretended to be innocent.

"Maxine, I know this must be devastating. But the person who spiked you clearly knew what he was doing,” Eric said before Zoe noticed Eric had a tattoo, which he hid.

Later, Eric boasted online about spiking the drink.

But Maxine contemplated the night at home and looked over the wanted poster, which featured a blurred image of an arm with a tattoo on it. Eric promised to make Maxine’s life “a living hell”, but Maxine found an image of Eric with the tattoo on his arm.

She finally worked out that Eric was the spiker and the revelatory episode ended.

Hollyoaks streams first on All 4, with new episodes dropping each weekday morning. The show airs Mondays to Fridays at 6.30pm on Channel 4, and at 7pm on E4.