EastEnders spoilers follow.
EastEnders star Shona McGarty has explained why Whitney Dean is desperate to flee Walford in upcoming episodes.
Scenes airing next week will see Whitney – released on bail – being confronted by the return of Leo's mother Michaela. Whitney is shocked when she learns what Michaela shares online and struggles to cope with everyone at the market staring at her.
Whitney is later seen holding her passport and plotting her exit.
Shona, who plays Whitney, shared that Whitney feels "devastated" and "embarrassed" by Michaela's online post.
"She knows that everyone is talking about her," she said. "It's just another thing that people are judging her on.
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"She feels like she's completely on her own, even though she has all her family. She just feels completely isolated."
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And discussing Whitney's reasons for wanting to run away, Shona said: "She feels like nobody wants her around.
"The whole of the market is talking about her.
"She just feels like she did do a bad thing, it was all her fault, she shouldn't have come to the hospital that time to Leo, she shouldn't have tried to help the situation – it's all her fault and she'd be better off just running away from it all. Like her brother did."
Shona explained that if Whitney does end up going ahead with leaving Walford, she would miss everyone "terribly".
"She thinks it's the only way out, but she'd miss everyone so much," she added. "It would be the hardest thing she's ever done."
EastEnders airs these scenes on Monday, April 20 at 8pm and Tuesday, April 21 at 7.30pm on BBC One.
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