Yet another EastEnders icon has made a shock exit from Albert Square in the wake of Martin Fowler’s (James Bye) funeral.
The stalwart tragically died after being crushed by a beam during The Queen Vic explosion in February.
His passing has opened up old wounds for a number of his nearest and dearest – with each of his ex-wives; Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), Ruby Allen (Louisa Lytton), and Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) competing to be crowned his ‘true love’.
Tensions began to rise on the day of his funeral when Stacey returned home drunk and had to be nursed back to sobriety by Sonia.
She’d struggled to face her loved ones ahead of the service, effectively abandoning her grieving children, as she dwelled on what Martin had told her in the moments prior to his death.
He admitted that he should have never reconciled with Ruby, and that he wished he could have a future with Stacey.
Stace subsequently had a blazing row with eldest daughter Lily (Lillia Turner), who failed to turn up at the funeral – knocking back vodka with her pal Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James) instead.
As the Walford locals gathered outside of the church, Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) broke the news that another of Martin’s loved ones was unable to attend the memorial.
Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), felt that she couldn’t handle saying goodbye and decided to stay at home instead.
This was despite her watching the coffin’s procession down Bridge Street that morning, and later attending the wake.
Why has Sharon Watts left EastEnders?
Sharon was grappling with the aftermath of her affair with Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) – which had been realised by his brother Phil (Steve McFadden) – when her half-sister Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig) arrived from Australia.
Phil had hopes of reuniting with her, but that idea was now blown out of the water. Vicki brought a tonne of baggage with her too, which began to trouble her.
She first learnt that her estranged sis had cheated on her long-term partner Spencer Moon (Christopher Parker), and her new fella Ross Marshall (Alex Walkinshaw) was debt-ridden.
Sharon agreed to cough up the cash on the understanding that the money was owed due to his divorce settlement, but it later transpired that his teenage son Joel (Max Murray) was the one had accumulated the $50,000 that was owed.
With so much going on in her life, it’s no surprise that she has done a moonlight flit and escaped the drama in today’s episode.
Vicki and Ross – who have now decided to start afresh in the area – were enjoying a cuppa when Sharon’s brother Zack (James Farrar) walked in with a letter.
It explained that she had gone to stay with Jada Lennox (Kelsey Calladine-Smith) as she ‘can’t face’ the upset she felt for Martin.
Who is Jada Lennox in EastEnders?
As viewers of the BBC One soap will remember, Jada is the ex-partner of Sharon’s late son Denny (Bleu Landau).
The pair conceived a child, Alyssa, though Denny never met her as he drowned on a joyride along the Thames when Jada was three months pregnant.
Is Sharon Watts coming back?
Just when Sharon will return remains to be seen, but it certainly explains why she wasn’t present at the funeral.
As EastEnders records scenes out of sequence, actress Letitia Dean must have been absent when the location sequences were filmed.
It’s likely that we’ll see her back on The Square in the coming weeks.
