EastEnders spoilers follow.

EastEnders' Jay Brown will make a huge decision about his future next week, after he lays his wife Lola Pearce-Brown to rest.

Since Lola sadly passed away from a brain tumour a few weeks ago, her loved ones have been struggling to process their grief, with her granddad Billy Mitchell even going missing on the day of her funeral.

After the colourful celebration of Lola's life, which features emotional speeches by Jay and by Lola's daughter Lexi Pearce, Lexi becomes worried for a struggling Jay, as it becomes clear that he is finding it hard to deal with the extent of his grief.

ben mitchell, lexi mitchell, jay mitchell, kathy beale, eastenders
BBC

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In scenes airing next week on BBC One, Jay has a heart-to-heart with Ben Mitchell and he finally agrees to move into Ben's place with Lexi.

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As the family sit down for dinner together, it becomes clear that being around the food is making Ben uncomfortable. Secretly struggling with an eating disorder, Ben starts to panic about how he will keep his bulimia hidden now that he has a full house.

Ben and Jay soon face some teething issues with their co-parenting of Lexi, as Ben is worried when Lexi goes to walk to school on her own. When it's revealed that Lola and Jay made the decision weeks ago to let Lexi go to school independently, without consulting him, Ben is irritated.

jay mitchell, ben mitchell, eastenders
BBC
jay mitchell, ben mitchell, eastenders
BBC

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It looks like the pair have a long way to go in establishing their co-parenting relationship, but will they be able to make the arrangement work for Lexi's sake?

Following Lola's death, Ben has also been struggling with his ownership of the Arches, having ended up in financial difficulty after helping to support Lola in her final months, as well as paying for a trial of an expensive treatment for her that never got to take place.

With Ben faced with selling the business to Sharon Watts, who wanted to buy it as a business for her fiancé Keanu Taylor to run, he's found himself in his dad Phil Mitchell's bad books.

EastEnders airs on Mondays - Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer.


If you identify with the themes in this article, the NHS has resources available to help with grief counselling and other support in the UK. In the US, the CDC also has resources available for those grieving.

Beat is a charity which raises awareness and understanding of eating disorders, and supports those affected by them. It has a one-to-one secure messaging service, and details of its phone helplines can be found here.


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