This article contains spoilers for Thursday’s episode of EastEnders, which is already available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
A dying Nigel Bates (Paul Bradley) shared a heartbreaking goodbye with best friend Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) in Thursday’s EastEnders.
Earlier this week, fans saw Nigel finally share news of his young-onset dementia diagnosis with his old pal.
Grant struggled to process the news and found comfort in the arms of ex-wife Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), and it was not long before they were back in bed together.
In the aftermath, Grant was left licking his wounds when Sharon insisted their liaison shouldn’t have happened and they needed to think about Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), who is currently having treatment in a mental health facility following his recent suicide attempt.
After Grant then had some words of advice from an unlikely source, he sought to try and put things right with people before leaving Walford once again.
This included inviting Nigel to come and live with him in Portugal, promising to take care of him as his condition worsens.
At first, Nigel seemed thrilled by the idea. However, he had some time to think about the idea as Grant went to say goodbye to Phil.
Meeting at the Tube station, Nigel told Grant he was staying in Walford to support Phil when he is discharged.
The two men then broke down in tears and shared a hug as Nigel devastatingly told his friend how he was desperate to always remember this moment.
‘You are my best friend, and you never forget that,’ Grant told him, before he then took one last look around Walford and headed off into the sunset once more.
But with Grant sharing details of his and Sharon’s rendezvous with another local before his exit, it looks very much like he has left a ticking timebomb behind for his ex-wife…
