EastEnders fans were left stunned last night as Jane Beale’s final scenes were aired and actress Laurie Brett confirmed she won’t be returning to the soap.
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Her last ever scenes showed her making a desperate phone call to Stacey Fowler, warning her about Max Branning. Jane had been forced to flee Walford by Max because she knows he’s secretly embroiled in an evil revenge plot against those who sent him to prison for Lucy Beale’s murder.
Laurie told Digital Spy: “I’ve loved every minute of playing Jane Beale. To return to EastEnders with such a huge storyline was an absolute gift.
“However, what I have known from the start is that with the soap gods watching us at all times, there is only so long before things go full circle.
“It’s been hard keeping the secret, but the storyline has been great to play out and I have loved every minute of it.”
But fans were shocked to find out that Jane wouldn’t be coming back to Walford and felt such a big character should have got a better exit.
Taking to Twitter to vent their frustrations, they slammed the show for writing Jane out.
One fan said: “So that was Jane’s final scene? How pathetic.”
Another added: “I’m rather annoyed the fact that Jane Beale left. This is unjust.”
While a third simply tweeted “What an awful exit for Jane #eastenders #deservedbetter.”
Other fans have a theory that EastEnders are playing a sneaky trick on us and that Laurie hasn’t really left the show for good.
One viewer said: “I don’t believe this for one second”
And another backed this idea up, saying: “Seriously Jane just leaves like that? I don’t buy it.”
Hmmm…the plot thickens.
Jane will probably have an easier time of it away from Walford tbh. Since returning to the soap back in 2014 she has helped cover up her step-daughter’s murder, been attacked and left in a wheelchair by her own son, left to die in a fire and just generally not had much in the way of good luck.
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She left Walford on Friday, leaving her husband, Ian, heartbroken – but later left him a voicemail explaining that she still loved him and was being forced to leave.