EastEnders airs Daniel Cook death scene as Adrian Edmondson leaves the cast

Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) received the all-clear from her ovarian cancer at her latest check-up, but it was bittersweet as she was consumed with guilt that her boyfriend Daniel faces a terminal diagnosis and would not be getting good news from the doctor any time soon.

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Daniel buoyed Jean's spirits, in his usual sarcastic manner, as she shared her sadness and anger at the situation and the pair stepped out into the Square gardens for some fresh air. When Jean returned from getting some hot drinks, Daniel had died on Arthur's bench. She quietly sat next to him and mourned, calling the cantankerous Mr Cook "The love of my life…".

Edmondson's casting was big news last spring and the former star of The Young Ones made his debut in June 2019, when Jean met the fellow cancer patient at a chemotherapy appointment.

Initially disgusted by his rudeness and rather dark sense of humour, that bordered on the inappropriate, the pair slowly built up a friendship that developed into something much deeper.

Realising Jean was falling for him, in October 2019 Daniel got a friend to lie to her he had died in order to protect her from watching his decline. He even went to the trouble of staging a fake memorial service…

Kush Kazemi then bumped into him at the hospital a few months later and swore to keep the secret and not let on to Jean, but Daniel came back from the dead at Christmas and revealed himself as the guardian angel who helped the Slaters from being evicted by new landlords the Panesars, revealing to a stunned Jean he was still alive.

Since then the pair have been enjoying spending time together knowing Daniel did not have long left. Alas, it's now RIP Daniel - how will Jean cope without her partner in crime?

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