EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick reportedly joked with soap bosses to "kill him off" so that he could fulfill his wish of having a heartbreaking final scene following the tragic death of Lola Pearce-Brown (Danielle Harold).
Jamie's character Jay Brown has been left distraught after his wife Lola passed away from a brain tumour.
Lola's health had rapidly deteriorated and her devastated family had to say their final goodbyes as her last moments edged closer.
During her final episode, a reeling Jay spoke about reincarnation and what they could come back as after they've died.
As Lola lay asleep, Jay revealed that she would come back as a fox, telling her: "I can see you coming back as a fox. Wily, sassy, scrappy. Sexy, too. Yeah, all right, you can come back as a fox."
When he asked Lola what animal he would come back as, he suggested a rat so that the lovers could "rummage through the bins" together.
As the emotional episode came to a close, a fox was seen running across the Square after Lola had passed away in the early hours of the morning.
Talking to Daily Star at The British Soap Awards 2023, Jamie opened up about his ideas for Jay's final scene if he were to exit the soap in the future and made a huge promise to make it happen.
He said: “Well, I can’t do any better than hers (Danielle Harold), can I? So fine, kill me off. In the monologue which I say to her [before she dies], I say I’ll be a rat and you can be a fox, and then there’s going to be a clip.
“I will sacrifice never coming back to EastEnders again just so we can have a fox and a rat rummaging through the bins as my final clip.
“I would sacrifice that for this soap, that’s how giving I am. Kill me off just for that, I don’t need to work ever again just for that, for that one scene.”
EastEnders airs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7.30 pm on BBC One — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on episodes on BBC iPlayer now.
