The Split Up ending explained: Who does Aria end up with in the BBC drama?

Viewers who loved Nicola Walker's The Split, have been equally as delighted by its glossy spin-off The Split Up.

Written by Ursula Rani Sarma, the drama in The Split Up unfolds at Manchester law firm Kishan Law, as its dedicated founder Dhruv (Sanjeev Bhaskar) prepares to hand over his beloved firm to his equally ambitious daughter, Aria (Ritu Arya).

As the family firm of divorce lawyers deal with a different case each week, their own messy personal lives are far more dramatic than the ones they're tasked with legally unpicking.

Mainly, Aria’s life was thrown into turmoil when Dhruv brings forensic accountant Luke (Dimitri Leonidas) into the fold. Aria once had a one-night stand with him at a conference when she was already in a relationship with current fiancé, Neal (Danny Ashok).

Those tuning in have been hooked by Aria being torn between her safe and dependable soon-to-be husband, and the man she has incredible chemistry with who could be her one true love.

With the arrival of her wedding day during the show's finale, which man did Aria pick? We break down her decision, and what else happened at the end of the show.

The Split Up ending explained

As The Split Up finale opens, Aria is wedding flower shopping with her future mother-in-law Harshika (Sindhu Vee). Harshika knows there's something amiss with her son's relationship but asks Aria not to tell her what's happening to avoid taking sides - a wise decision under the circumstances.

Aria's sister Maya (Aysha Kala) is also having a bad day, as the day of her signing her divorce papers has arrived, and she's also having to put up with half-hearted explanations from Aria about Luke really being nothing more than a one night stand.

Maya has spent the series dealing with the fallout from her husband Michael's (Tom Forbes) affair, trying to regain hr identity - she can't be dealing with her sister's drama too.

As the sisters arrive at the firm, Aria is greeted with a table full of wedding gifts from clients, and her mounting unease at her impending nuptials is palpable.

With her wedding due to take place the next day, Aria heads off to find Neal. The pair have awkward discussions about the state of their relationship - he's gradually found out pieces of information about her infidelity, but doesn't yet know it was with Luke and the full extent of their feelings for each other.

It's then a bad day for everyone when Dhruv calls a family meeting to talk about Zoya (Shalini Peiris.) Zoya had been born and raised in Delhi, but moved to Manchester to take on a high-profile legal case.

As she networked with the city's legal scene and became known to the Kishan family, a huge secret was exposed: Zoya is actually Dhruv's secret daughter from an arranged former marriage.

He'd abandoned his first wife and child and started a new life in Manchester. And now, Zoya is demanding £200,000 inheritance, or 25% of the value of the firm. Dhruv's family meeting is about working out how to move forward with navigating Zoya's demands.

Amid everyone's ongoing drama, Aria's wedding day arrives and she ultimately does what she believes is the right thing to do and marries Neal.

She tells a devastated Luke beforehand, "I wanted you, but I need Neal more," later telling Neal she'll never take him for granted again and that she's always "been his."

The wedding itself brings some of the major storylines to close, some more satisfactorily than others.

Ahead of the big day, Aria's brother Kav Kishan (Arian Nik) finally finds some inner peace. Having struggled to pass his his law finals and feeling like he lived in the shadows of his successful sisters, Kav also grappled with his sexuality throughout the series.

By the finale, he has the courage to tell his dad that he wanted to specialise in mediation law instead of litigation, which would have been Dhruv's preferred speciality for him.

He also admits his true feelings to Ashok (Mawaan Rizwan), telling him, "I'm in. Whatever this might be, whatever this might become, I'm in." He then cements his feelings openly by performing a public karaoke rendition of Atomic Kitten's Whole Again for his boyfriend, for all to see and inviting him to the wedding.

Zoya attends the wedding and clears the air with Maya, also giving Dhruv chance to meet her daughter, and his granddaughter, Indira.

It turns out Zoya had another secret. She wasn't just after Dhruv for his money, she'd split from her nasty ex-husband who was doing everything he could to get full custody of Indira.

Zoya had run out of money to pay for legal bills and had turned to her real father as a last resort. She wasn't trying to extort him, she was just a desperate mum who didn't want to be separated from her daughter and needed help with that.

The Kishan family vow to pull together to help Zoya with whatever she needs.

However, just when it looks like things are going to be ok, there are two late arrivals to the wedding.

The first is Luke, and the second is Zoya's ex-husband who has something to show Dhruv. He presents Dhruv with a copy of his own real birth certificate that shows Dhruv is actually called Aran. He also didn't divorce Zoya's mother, making him a bigamist.

The ex threatens Dhruv to stop helping Zoya with her case or he will expose his secrets, leaving Dhruv looking terrified - although viewers don't fully know what the secrets could be - maybe a storyline for a possible season 2?

While it appears that Maya and Michael might get back together (spending the night together on occasions and slow dances at the wedding seemed to drop big hints hey would,) Maya ultimately decides she cant trust him anymore and appears to make their split final at the reception while everyone dances around them.

Luke tells Aria that he's resigned from the firm and will be returning to London. As Neal sees how intimately the two are talking and how upset Luke looks, he seems to put two and two together but doesn't say anything.

The final moments of the finale provide a close-up of Aria's face as she dances with her new husband, appearing incredibly unhappy with the decision she's made, and sad to see her other love slip away.

While there's been no word about season 2 of the show yet, there's certainly plenty of storylines left to explore if the BBC does decide to take audiences back to Kishan Law in the future.

All episodes of The Split Up are available on BBC iPlayer.