EastEnders Danielle Harold asked medical advisor if Lola could cry in last moments

Danielle Harold has revealed that filming her final scenes as EastEnders' Lola Pearce was so emotional, she had to check with the medical advisor whether the Walford resident would be able to cry in her unconscious state.

The BBC soap has been leading up to the death of Lola Pearce, who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer late last year, with the long-time character's final scenes airing next week.

Speaking to OK! at an EastEnders screening, Danielle said that she "really struggled" to get through the scenes in which Lola's loved-ones said goodbye to her.

"It was really difficult. And obviously having to listen to these guys' goodbyes to me and not cry was really hard.

"I actually had to ask the medical advisor, 'Can you cry when you're at that stage?' And she said, 'Yeah, you can hear, so your emotions are still there. So that definitely helped me be able to play them last moments for sure."

EastEnders announced last year that 2023 would see Danielle leave the soap after eight years – however, the actress admitted that she originally didn't want to leave, telling the showrunner: "No, she has so much to give."

"I can't thank Chris [Clenshaw] enough for giving me the best exit.," she said. "And it's not just been the exit. When Chris made this decision, he really did let me play out all of Lola's life in the space of a very short time. It's been a bit crazy, isn't it, fitting everything in.

"But obviously I've been at the show for so many years, but we've not really dug into Lola at all over all these years so to be able to find out her whole life in this space has been pretty amazing for me to play."

She added that there have been "so many different things" she's wondered about Lola, so to find that out has been "such a lovely journey".

Since joining the soap in 2011 as Billy Mitchell's granddaughter, Lola has given birth to Lexi – the daughter she shares with Ben Mitchell – and went on to form a relationship with Jay Brown, tying the knot with the long-time character in January this year.

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