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JAMIE BORTHWICK on the devastating next chapter for grieving widower Jay

EASTENDERS
MONDAY-THURSDAY, 7.30PM, BBC1 SOAP

Jamie Borthwick grew up on screen, having joined the cast of BBC1 soap EastEnders as troubled Jay Brown at the age of 12 in December 2006. Now, the actor is embarking on one of the biggest challenges of his career as his fan-favourite character takes centre stage in a hard-hitting drug-abuse storyline following the death of his beloved wife Lola (Danielle Harold).

Here, in an exclusive interview, Jamie, 29, tells TV Times about how Jay’s life spirals out of control and what the future might hold for the Walford funeral director…

Jay’s world has fallen apart since Lola passed away in May after being diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour. How is he coping with his grief? 

Not very well. He’s not been sleeping and he’s finding it difficult to be in the flat. He’s been going out at night for walks to try to make himself tired. He initially starts taking drugs to help him sleep, but now he’s become a bit reliant on them. We haven’t seen that fully play out yet, but it’s going to be interesting to watch. He goes down a bit of a dark path.

Struggling to deal with Lola’s death, Jay makes a decision this week that leaves him fighting for his life. How does the story unfold?

After Lola’s funeral, we kind of left that whole story line for a while and the feedback I’ve had from viewers is that we haven’t yet heard how Lola’s family are dealing with their grief. So now we get to find out – and it certainly isn’t going well for Jay. We really explore exactly how he’s feeling and how low he is after losing Lola.