Very EMOTIONAL News!!! Nigel leaves unbearable final message in EastEnders as emotions shatter

Admit it. Your heart is still bruised, if not broken, from having to say goodbye to Nigel Bates (Paul Bradley) in EastEnders last week.

It’s not like we didn’t know it was coming, but it still really, really hurt, while also showing the BBC soap at its absolute best, especially after the divisive nature of the Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) plot that dominated the latter half of last year.

Knowing the end was near and seriously concerned about uncle Phil’s (Steve McFadden) mental health, Mark Fowler Jr (Stephen Aaron-Sipple) summoned his dad, Grant (Ross Kemp) back to the Square, seeking to reunite him with Phil and little sister Sam (Kim Medcalf) after a period of estrangement.

With Phil utterly refusing to see Nigel after bidding him a heart-breaking goodbye on the day he was admitted into a care home, Grant proved to be just what his brother needed to deal with the situation, and supported him to go and say a proper goodbye to his best friend, when Julie Bates (Karen Henthorn) made the painful decision to withdraw his pneumonia treatment.

Despite a car with a flat battery, Phil made it to Nigel’s side, where he sat alongside Julie, his partner in caring for Nigel for so long. Shirking his hard-man persona, Phil poured pure emotion as he confessed his love for his best friend as Nigel finally passed away.

Phil’s family were deeply worried in the immediate aftermath. After he’d previously suffered deeply with depression, hallucinations and thoughts of ending his life, Grant, Sam, Mark, Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) and Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) watched over him tentatively.

Naturally, Phil was raw, and while Nigel’s friends across Albert Square threw a celebration of his life and showed their support, he left early, as his loved one’s concern only grew.

Phil didn’t relapse, though, and after setting alight to an arm chair he’d previously suffered alone in, welcomed a group of Walford residents into his home for cake and dancing; still hurting, still vulnerable, but able to manage his mental health better.

Next week sees both Phil and Julie adjust to life without Nigel. While she’s determined to head to the care home to collect his things alone, as not to upset Phil, Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) spots her, fraught with emotion and tearful in the Minute Mart.

While Phil, Grant and Mark squabble over a day out together, Phil’s shocked when Kat barrels in and lets him have it over Julie having to deal with things alone.

Phil and Sam head to the care home to offer Julie their full support, just as she finds a letter from Nigel, addressed to her. Still processing the loss of her husband, Julie is unable to open it.