The late Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold) made a surprise cameo in EastEnders on Wednesday, over a year after her on-screen death.
The popular character died of a brain tumour last year in one of the BBC soap’s most emotional storylines ever.
Before her death, Lola revealed she’d recorded a series of video messages for her friends and family to play as they reached various milestones without her.
A few of these aired in the weeks after Lola passed away, with husband Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) receiving one to help him cope with her no longer being there, and daughter Lexi Pearce (Isabella Brown) getting one on her first day of school.
Now 15 months later, Wednesday’s episode saw Lola’s aunt Janet Mitchell (Grace) celebrating her 18th birthday and become the latest member of the family to get a video message.
Janet and her dad Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) were seen showing Queen Vic barmaid Gina Knight (Francesca Henry) the emotional clip, in which actress Danielle Harold was seen reprising her role as Lola.
However, Metro.co.uk understands that Danielle filmed the scene in advance of Lola’s on-screen exit, rather than returning to set and film the message in more recent months.
After leaving EastEnders, Danielle appeared on last year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, where she finished in sixth place.
She has also competed on Celebrity Hunted and Celebrity MasterChef, as well as filming an appearance on Celebrity Antiques Road Trip with former EastEnders co-star Max Bowden, who played Ben Mitchell.
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One and from 6am on iPlayer.
