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Nicola Mitchell’s (Laura Doddington) got a lot on her plate in upcoming EastEnders episodes, and things are only going to get worse.
Arriving in 2024, Nicola is fiercely protective of sons Harry and Barney Mitchell (Elijah Holloway and Lewis Bridgeman).
The character recently gave birth a baby girl called Ivy, who she shares with George Knight (Colin Salmon).
Nicola faced a hugely stressful challenge earlier this year, when George’s adoptive father Eddie Knight (Christopher Fairbank) returned and began blackmailing her.
Suffice to say that since her move, Nicola has discovered that life in Walford is anything but straightforward.
She’s had more than her fair share of drama, and there’s no let up for her next week.
As Ria continues trying to settle in, Eve Panesar-Unwin (Heather Peace) steps in to help smooth things over with the youngster thanks to some encouragement from Nicola.
In the week, Eve visits Nicola and they bond over their fractured relationships with their parents. As they chat, Nicola notices Harry has arrived and quickly shuts the conversation down.
To distract herself on the anniversary of her father’s death, Nicola offers to throw Kojo (Dayo Koleosho) a birthday party.
She gets to work planning things, but her family cannot help but worry that she’s taking on too much.
Things won’t get any quieter for Nicola, as BBC One soap EastEnders has confirmed a number of her relatives will soon arrive in Walford.
Viewers are already aware that Nicola has a fractured relationship with her family and has kept them at arm’s length due to their complicated and troubled childhood. What we do know is that Nicola has at least one sister, Gemma, who was always their mother’s favourite.
They had an abusive father, and a mother who blamed Nicola for her husband’s rages. Gemma was apparently there with Nicola when their toxic father died, ‘screaming’ at Nicola and her sisters.
After numerous mentions of Gemma in the show, we finally get to see the most interesting EastEnders character we’ve never met, when Nicola’s never-seen sister arrives on the Square with her husband Ned and their son Ryder. They won’t be alone, as also in the clan is their mother Rose, and Nicola’s younger sister Jodie.
Executive producer Ben Wadey welcomed Walford’s latest family, as well as teasing plenty of upcoming drama for fan favourite Nicola.
‘The Hawkins family are a fantastic addition to Walford.
‘While the family share a fierce loyalty to one another, decades of complicated history and Nicola’s estrangement from them has left fractures within the family that are far from healed. We’re all very excited for what we have planned for the family, and we can’t wait for the audience to meet them’.
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