EastEnders spoilers follow.
EastEnders' Elaine Knight's life is on the line next week when she collapses – twice. Have the landlady's stress levels taken their toll, or is there something more sinister going on with her health?
"2025 has been a tough year for Elaine," begins our EastEnders insider. "Her marriage is in tatters, her business is under threat, and now she's having funny turns. She really needs her family at a time like this."
With emotions running high since George Knight was sent packing, everyone's on edge around unpredictable Elaine. Linda Carter can't bear the atmosphere any longer and wants to sell her share of The Vic and withdraw from the family business.
Elaine's attempts to get her daughter to change her mind cause another blazing row, ending with frustrated Linda storming off. When Linda offloads to George in the café, her sympathetic stepdad tries to get her to reconsider.
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When Elaine spies her ex and Linda together, paranoia kicks in and she accuses them of ganging up on her. Feeling betrayed, she decides she doesn't need Linda after all and heads to the bank to try to get a loan.
But this doesn't work, and Elaine is left fearing she may lose the pub in the divorce, which is bound to get even more bitter. After pleading with grandson Johnny to become a silent partner, to no avail, Elaine's behaviour becomes worryingly erratic.
"It's the end of a trying day and Elaine has had enough," explains our source. "She has a meltdown and orders all the punters out, then has another argument with Linda. All of a sudden, distressed Elaine collapses and falls to the floor."
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Linda and Johnny watch in horror as Elaine passes out and are immediately wracked with guilt at pushing her over the edge.
Once Elaine comes around, she plays down the incident as a panic attack, insisting she's fine and just got overwhelmed after such a stressful run of rotten luck.
Concerned for her mother's wellbeing, conflicted Linda confides in Johnny Carter about whether selling her half of the pub is the right thing to do. Can she really leave Elaine high and dry, knowing this could mean the end of her reign behind the bar?
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But Johnny reckons his mum is best off cutting her losses. Elaine and George's break-up has already torn the family apart, and he doesn't want his grandma's volatile antics to drive recovering addict Linda back to drink.
Linda goes to talk things through with Elaine, only to get another nasty shock…
"Elaine has collapsed again," our insider reveals. "Linda is properly worried now – is this really a panic attack brought on by stress, or could Elaine be seriously ill?"
As Elaine is rushed to hospital, what will doctors diagnose after her dramatic double fainting?
EastEnders airs on Mondays - Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.
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