Abi Branning was killed off EastEnders but when and how did she die?
In tonight’s episode of the soap (Monday, February 8), Max spoke to his granddaughter Abi Jr about her late mother, who she was named after.
But who is was Abi Branning and what happened to her?
Who was Abi Branning in EastEnders?
Abi Branning is the daughter of Tanya Cross and Max Branning.
Her older half-brother is Bradley Branning. She also has an older sister named Lauren and a younger brother called Oscar.
Abi first appeared in EastEnders in July 2006 when she moved to Albert Square with Tanya, Max and Lauren.
During her 12 years in Walford, Abi was involved in some tough storylines.
At a young age, she discovered her dad had been having an affair with his daughter-in-law, Stacey, when video footage of Max and Stacey kissing was shown on Christmas Day 2007.
She also became close friends with Ben Mitchell, who she went on to have a relationship as a teenager. However Ben was gay and going out with Abi to hide this from his father.
To try and keep Ben as her boyfriend, she faked a pregnancy and a miscarriage.
However Ben found out there was no baby when Abi accidently told him the truth, thinking his sister Louise had already outed her lie.
EastEnders: What happened to Abi Branning?
Abi had an on and off relationship with her family, especially with Lauren.
On Abi’s 21st birthday, Lauren got jealous when her boss Josh began to flirt with Abi, despite Lauren being in a relationship with Steven Beale.
After an argument, Abi chucked Lauren out of the party and soon slept with Steven.
Abi and Steven continued their affair and when she learnt he was lying about having a brain tumour so Lauren couldn’t leave him, she gave him medication which would make him appear ill.
Soon Abi fell pregnant with Steven’s baby. But he ended up dying after being injured by Max in the fire at Ian’s restaurant.
Eventually Lauren found out that Steven and Abi were having an affair and although she was disgusted at first, she soon became supportive of Abi and her pregnancy.
In 2018, Tanya returned to Walford to take Abi and Lauren away revealing that Max was responsible for Steven’s injuries and that he tried to kill Jane.
The two girls rejected their dad. But when he went to the roof of The Queen Vic, planning to jump off, Abi and Lauren tried to stop him.
Lauren ended up slipping and Abi grabbed her to try and save her. But she ended up falling too.
How did Abi die?
At the hospital, a scan revealed Abi’s baby was alive. However Abi was brain stem dead.
Meanwhile Lauren sustained bad leg injuries.
Abi’s baby was delivered by caesarean section. She gave birth to a daughter, who was also named Abi.
Although Max wanted to get treatment of his daughter, doctors told him she was already brain stem dead and would not wake up.
Her life support was turned off at 8.32pm and she died in hospital, leaving her family devastated.
Read more: Former EastEnders star Katie Jarvis ‘faces court as she’s charged with assault’
Who played Abi?
Throughout her 13 years on the show, Abi was played by actress Lorna Fitzgerald.
After leaving the soap, she appeared in TV series London Kills in 2019 and in 2020, she played Emmaline in film The Loss Adjuster.
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