EastEnders star struggled to film 'tough' scenes of Lola's death

Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold) is very sadly facing the final few days of her life in EastEnders after the palliative chemotherapy she had been receiving stopped working and allowed her brain tumour to spread.

In upcoming episodes, Lola’s family and friends will get the chance to say a final goodbye before her sad demise.

‘Lola definitely starts to feel her decline quite quickly during her palliative care’, actress Danielle Harold revealed.

‘Her symptoms are getting worse, she’s becoming more forgetful and she’s having more seizures so she’s definitely aware her time is coming to an end now.’

As her condition worsens, she is visited by friends and family, including Kim and Denise Fox (Diane Parish and Tameka Empson), who give Lola a much needed pamper session.

‘Denise and Kim come to see Lola as she’s of course really poorly now, so they come round to try and make her feel a bit better, talk to her and make her feel pampered. They just sit around her bedside to be with her and to say their goodbyes’, Danielle said.

Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) and Callum Highway (Tony Clay) also pay her a visit, promising to look after daughter Lexi (Isabella Brown) once she is gone.

Understandably, husband Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) and ‘Pops’ Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) struggle to cope with their grief as the end draws near.

These emotional scenes proved difficult to film, Danielle revealed, but working with charities provided some much needed help and support.

‘It’s been really difficult filming these last few scenes over because it does get really tough, especially towards the end’, she explained.

‘It’s such a heart breaking diagnosis and it’s not nice to watch or to play, so working with the charities has been so important for us because we want to portray Lola’s diagnosis both accurately and sensitively while also raising awareness to hopefully make a change.’

As she reflected on her exit, Danielle revealed what it was like filming such an intense emotional scenes alongside Perry Fenwick, Jamie Borthwick and Isabella Brown.

‘We’re all just so close, we’re like a real family unit – both on and off screen!

‘It’s been so special doing this with them and I really couldn’t have done this with anyone else because we just all work in such a great way together and taking on this story was such a team effort from all of us.’

This storyline has garnered a lot of attention, with Danielle being nominated for several British Soap Awards, including the highly sought after viewer-voted Leading Performer prize.

‘The response from everybody has been really overwhelming but really lovely as they’re really supportive of Lola’, Danielle revealed.

‘It’s been so lovely to see that.’

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