Julie staggered in EastEnders as she gets final goodbye message from Nigel

Julie Bates (Karen Henthorn) was left in tears in EastEnders after finding a goodbye letter from her beloved husband Nigel (Paul Bradley), who died in emotional scenes last week.

Nigel passed away in emotional scenes after a near-two year battle with dementia, which saw him return to Walford to reunite with his best mate Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) after three decades.

His comeback led to him discovering that Phil was struggling with his mental health and he proved a great source of support for the former mechanic, who attempted to take his own life during his struggles.

In return for Nigel’s friendship, Phil offered to be right by his side until the very end following his dementia diagnosis.

He proved to be a rock too for Julie, who subsequently arrived on the Square, with both she and Pihl looking after Nigel until his death last week.

The residents of the Square, Julie included, worried about Phil’s mental health in the wake of his best mate’s passing but – much like he promised his dear Nige – Phil was determined to live every moment.

Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace), however, saw her in the Minute Mart and, realising she was undertaking such an emotional task on her own, she railed at Phil and Sam (Kim Medcalf), who were taken aback to learn of Julie’s plight.

But as Julie cleaned up the last few bits in the room, she stumbled upon a letter addressed to her, written by Nigel prior to his death, which left her taken aback.

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But as Phil left the kitchen, Julie removed the still sealed letter from her pocket.

Emotional, she put it away in the cupboard.

The question is: just what does Nigel’s final message to her say?

And will Julie be able to open it?

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One or stream from 6am on BBC iPlayer.

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