EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick has said that he and his co-star Danielle Harold are "extremely close" in real life, and this has helped them as the heartbreaking story of their screen couple Lola and Jay plays out for fans.
Viewers of the BBC soap have seen Lola and Jay's world turned upside down following her diagnosis with a brain tumour.
Asked by the BBC how they were coping with filming "a lot of heavy scenes", Borthwick replied: "We have a laugh on set, we know each other inside out, and we know what makes each other laugh. We know when it's time to be serious, we know when it's time to be silly.
"I've got Danielle's back, and she's got my back; we're extremely close - we're like brother and sister, and I'm with her every step of the way. This isn't real, thankfully, and we know how to switch off."
Borthwick said the response to the storyline has been "really good".
"In the street, people are saying, 'Oh, Lola can't die! It's so sad! I don't know how I'm going to cope when she actually dies!' I'm thinking, 'I know! Me neither!'
"We hope we can make a lot of noise with it and raise awareness about a family going through such a thing. If it's hitting any of those notes, I'm certainly happy about that."
If you have been affected by issues raised in this story, please visit: www.rte.ie/helplines.
EastEnders airs on RTÉ One and BBC One Monday to Thursday.
