Foy and HEARTBREAK

SHONA MCGARTY on 15 years in the Square and a traumatic new chapter for Whitney...

- ALISON SLADE.

EASTENDERS MON, WED, THU & FRI, 7.30PM (NI & WALES, FRI, 8PM), BBC1 SOAP

It was the happiest of accidents for Walford’s Whitney Dean when she discovered she was pregnant after a one-night stand with Zack Hudson. The circumstances were far from perfect, but Whitney’s dream of being a mum had finally come true.

But heartache is ahead for the expectant market trader when, in an upcoming episode, her unborn baby is diagnosed with Edwards’ syndrome (also known as trisomy 18), a rare but serious genetic condition. EastEnders has worked closely with SOFT UK (Support Organisation for Trisomy 13 and Trisomy 18) and Antenatal Results and Choices on the moving storyline, which will see Whitney forced to make an impossibly tough decision.

Here, in an exclusive interview with TV Times, actor Shona McGarty, 31, opens up about her biggest challenge yet…

Viewers have seen Whitney being told her baby may have omphalocele, where some organs grow outside of the fetus’ body. How will she react when she learns that it’s Edwards’ syndrome?

She just can’t believe it. She has wanted to be a mum ever since she was eating chicken nuggets with [her adoptive mum] Bianca, so this is heartbreaking. And she feels so guilty. She thinks maybe it’s her fault, maybe she didn’t eat the right thing.

The doctors tell her what could happen, but she needs to have tests, so it’s all a bit of a waiting game. Zack is around, but he’s got his own thing going on at the moment [Zack has secretly discovered that he is HIV-positive], so she’s kind of on her own. She doesn’t know what to do.