Nigel Bates (Paul Bradley) recently told partner Julie (Karen Henthorn) in EastEnders that they’d soon be going away to India.

The beloved character returned to Walford last Christmas to see his friend Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden). Shortly after, it was confirmed that Nigel has dementia, and headed to Albert Square in an attempt to jog some old memories.

 

 

Nigel has been living with Phil ever since. At first, Phil was caring for Nigel alone, but he soon became overwhelmed as he tried to deal with his friend’s dementia symptoms.

‘Nigel has chosen to stay with Phil because he feels safe and at home with him’, star Paul Bradley previously said.

 

 

‘Phil has created this cocoon for Nigel where he looks after him in every way, including keeping him financially secure. It’s a real act of love by Phil, and he doesn’t want attention for it.

‘Phil just made this decision to care for him. This home with Phil has become very important to Nigel.’

 

 

Paul added: ‘For Nigel, he’s experiencing a slow decline, and things have started to happen that are understandably very confusing for him and he often mistakes things in his past for the present day, and his memories are disjointed.

Phil struggling to handle everything sparked the arrival of Julie, who now works as a teacher at Walford High.

In order to fund the trip to India, Nigel decided to sell his car. After the sale, Nigel decided to take the vehicle for one final spin.

Unfortunately, a distracted Nigel ended up driving his car right at Gina Knight (Francesca Henry) and newcomer Jasmine Fisher (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness)

In the aftermath of this, Julie is completely relieved to find Nigel safe.

During an emotional heart to heart, Nigel admits to Julie that he’s too unwell for them to go to India, meaning they will have to stay in Walford for the foreseeable.

How will Nigel cope as he processes this realisation?