EastEnders spoilers follow.
EastEnders star Diane Parish has addressed fears that her beloved character Denise Fox could die. Denise was shockingly diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) earlier this month, leaving fans terrified for her future on the show.
Following her diagnosis, the mother-of-three was urged by doctors to begin treatment immediately. But she chose to delay her hospital admittance so she could support her daughter Chelsea and grandson Jordan, following his car accident.
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Though Denise was mentioned in the special New Year's Day flashforward episode, which took place in 2027, her long-term survival is still up in the air. Speaking about her future on the show, Parish explained that storylines can be "fickle" and will feed into a "bigger picture".
"There are many characters in this show and, as actors, we just tell their stories. I see it like we're chess pieces on a board and we go with whatever the creators decide is best for the show, because they're looking at the bigger picture," she told TV Times Magazine. "It's the fickle finger of fate, but that's just like life, isn't it?"
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Parish reflected on her impressive 20 years on the soap, during which her character has "been through so much".
"I feel like I've had 100 different careers already from being in this show. I just feel so grateful and proud to be a part of it."
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Speaking about her character's decision to delay her chemotherapy, the actor explained that Denise worries "everything is going to fall apart without her" as "all she's ever done is take care of everyone around her".
"But now she's going to have to surrender herself to the people who are hopefully going to be able to save her life," she continued.
"There are ripples throughout the whole family. You see that this isn't just happening to Denise, it's happening to everyone else who loves her, too. They've all been thrown into this huge storm.
"I want everybody to look out for what's coming - because it's unexpected."
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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