The character is still struggling

Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) was one of the many Walford residents caught up in the club crush in August in EastEnders.

The ordeal only occurred as a result of Chelsea (Zaraah Abrahams) messing with the booking system because she felt angry at Penny (Kitty Castledine), who had stolen her job.

Because of this, it allowed more people to buy tickets, despite the fact the event was nearly at full capacity anyway.

As more people made their way into Peggy’s, the situation very quickly became chaotic and dangerous.

Once Lauren found a locked office door, she managed to break into it and found a way out. Just as the door opened, Lauren saw Cindy (Michelle Collins), unaware she was continuing her affair with Junior (Micah Balfour) in that room.

Because of how panicked everyone was about escaping, a sea of people piled through the door, resulting in Lauren being trampled on after falling.

In the hospital, a doctor confirmed Lauren had suffered a chest wall injury, broken ribs and a damaged lung.

Since then, while Lauren has started to feel better, fans have noticed she hasn’t completely recovered from the ordeal.

In yesterday’s episode of the BBC One soap, Penny (Kitty Castledine) wondered if Lauren wanted to go for a drink that evening, but she still wasn’t ‘feeling great’ and also had alternate plans with Peter (Thomas Law).

Taking to social media, audience members of the BBC One soap are fearing for Lauren, wondering if she will develop an addiction to medication as she attempts to deal with her pain after the crush.

‘When the pain starts again, we’ll give you more” – anyone else seeing a prescription painkiller addiction in Lauren’s future?! #EastEnders’, one fan wondered.

Another wrote online: ‘Pain killer addiction definitely and with her liver from drinking i don’t think it’s the best move.’

Since then, while Lauren has started to feel better, fans have noticed she hasn’t completely recovered from the ordeal.

In yesterday’s episode of the BBC One soap, Penny (Kitty Castledine) wondered if Lauren wanted to go for a drink that evening, but she still wasn’t ‘feeling great’ and also had alternate plans with Peter (Thomas Law).

Taking to social media, audience members of the BBC One soap are fearing for Lauren, wondering if she will develop an addiction to medication as she attempts to deal with her pain after the crush.

‘When the pain starts again, we’ll give you more” – anyone else seeing a prescription painkiller addiction in Lauren’s future?! #EastEnders’, one fan wondered.

Another wrote online: ‘Pain killer addiction definitely and with her liver from drinking i don’t think it’s the best move.’

This theory comes a few weeks after star Jacqueline Jossa hinted at a big new storyline for her character.

The star, who returned to our screens in December 2023, took to social media site Instagram to do a Q&A for her followers, during which she was asked if she was enjoying her time back on the BBC soap and how many hours she usually worked.

‘It changes due to how much you’re in an episode, if you’re in that week of episodes. We film in blocks so it changes all the time,’ Jacqueline explained.

Answering the fan’s question, Jacqueline explained that she’s currently filming ‘a lot’, before adding that it ‘depends how much you’re in the stories’.

Yesterday, the club crush storyline saw Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) tell his family that they needed to vote over saving Chelsea from police consequences, or Penny.

Jack was left with the final vote and to Penny’s shock, he chose Chelsea.

At first, Penny was planning on going to the police to shop Chelsea herself, but she then changed her mind when she saw her and young Jordan.

Not wanting to take Jordan’s only parent from him, Penny later told Lauren that she’ll walk away from the situation, but will ‘ruin’ Jack over this betrayal.