EastEnders star Kellie Bright has said that viewers will see her character Linda Carter’s storyline get a lot “darker” in the coming weeks.
Linda’s drinking has continued to spiral out of control in recent episodes, following Bernie Taylor’s return to Walford. Linda notably confessed to Bernie that she had killed her brother Keanu last Christmas.
While appearing on The One Show tonight (December 6), Bright explained that Linda is “losing her battle with alcoholism”, which will make for difficult viewing.
“Linda’s an alcoholic and she’s a mess,” she said. “Things go very, very dark for Linda next week.
“She’s losing her battle with alcoholism, that’s kind of a way to summarise, really. It’s not good.”
“We’ve gone really dark, and it’s about to get a lot darker,” Bright continued. “I think what the producers have really tried to do with this story, and I think this is what EastEnders does really well – it takes a story that people can relate to.
“We all kind of know someone who struggles with addiction, and they’re showing the ugly truth of it, that’s where it goes. It’s gonna be a hard watch for a lot of people.”
In scenes set to air next week, Elaine returns from her honeymoon to discover that Linda has reached a new low, following a heated confrontation with her worried son Johnny.
Linda is then faced with a big choice, but sadly decides to choose the bottle over anything else.
A special episode will solely focus on Linda’s dangerous night of alcohol abuse, with the exact plot remaining under wraps.
Fans have also been speculating that Linda could die over Christmas, after her on-screen family were pictured filming a funeral without her.
The images, which were shared by The Sun in October, included Elaine Knight and Johnny Carter actors Harriet Thorpe and Charlie Suff, as well as returning stars Maddy Hill and Danny Hatchard – who play Nancy and Lee Carter, respectively.
Teasing her character’s upcoming scenes, Bright recently shared that viewers will see the “very worst version” of Linda on screen.
“She is so awful and says such horrible things to people that she’s getting more and more isolated. She is mentally detaching herself from the people that care about her,” she said.
The actor also explained that Linda is “so deep into her alcoholism that she’s blissfully unaware of the damage she is causing”.
“It’s not registering with her in those moments,” she continued. “Sadly, I don’t think she’s conscious of what’s happening.”
EastEnders airs on Mondays – Thurs
