EastEnders' star Max Bowden has revealed Lola's brain tumour storyline has been the "hardest thing he's ever dealt with" following the devastating death of his best friend.
The soap actor, 28, is currently starring alongside Danielle Harold as Lola, who is nearing the end of her life.
Yet Max's character Ben is desperate to do anything he can to try and prolong Lola's life.
He has been trying to explore different options with the doctors in the hope of getting Lola through the summer until Lexi heads to her new school.
Posting a clip of Ben desperately asking doctors for any more help they can give, Max opened up about his own experiences with the illness.
He emotionally wrote: "This clip is from tonight’s episode. This storyline has been the hardest I have ever had to deal with. 21 months ago I lost my best friend in the world to an undiagnosed brain tumour.
"Friday afternoon we were on the phone for an hour discussing Ronaldo to united return, 24 hours later he went into a coma and never woke up.
"Coming to terms with this grief has been the most turbulent, overwhelming, impossible thing I have ever had to overcome, and telling this story with Lola has been a tough old ride but an incredibly rewarding one.
"When we lose someone, we never know how we’re going to feel, how we’re going to change. Ben is no exception."
He added: "He is a complicated man. Riddled with trauma, insecurities and complexities. Fear can turn us into monsters. Many have picked up on this and I’m glad, this is exactly what we wanted to portray.
"Every one of the Mitchell’s are dealing with it very differently, and that’s credit to the writing team and the story team."
"Playing a character doesn’t mean I agree with his choices, however we can all appreciate that grief goes different things to different people," Max admitted.
"I appreciate all of the lovely messages. Oh, and gentle reminder to be kind, really proud of our EastEnders team for their constant good work and ambition to tell tough stories."
Lola will pass away in heartbreaking scenes airing on the BBC soap next week.
Speaking of her final scenes, Danielle said: "It’s been really difficult filming these last few scenes over because it does get really tough, especially towards the end. It’s such a heartbreaking diagnosis and it’s not nice to watch or to play.
"Working with the charities has been so important for us because we want to portray Lola’s diagnosis both accurately and sensitively while also raising awareness to hopefully make a change."
Danielle says Lola is well aware this is the beginning of the end for her, as she plans to make every second count.
