EastEnders' Jamie Borthwick responds to Jay's Christmas surprise
EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick has responded to Jay Brown's surprise Christmas Day message from his late wife Lola Pearce-Brown.
Following Lola's heartbreaking death from brain cancer last year, Jay opted to spend his first Christmas without Lola with the Mitchells. He was then surprised with a message his late wife had recorded for him prior to her passing.
In the video, Lola revealed that Jay and Honey Mitchell would be running the London Marathon later in the year to honour her memory, with upcoming scenes seeing Jay begin training for the event.
Speaking about Lola's Christmas message, Borthwick explained he thought it was a "clever idea" and that he believe Jay will embrace training for the marathon in Lola's memory.
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"It's obviously sad and quite tricky — the first Christmas after a loss like that is always hard. But Lola left Jay a nice present on Christmas Day, which he was very surprised by," he said.
Speaking about his character's reaction to the message, Borthwick added: "He's certainly shocked! He didn't expect it, but he takes it on with an open mind and has a 'go for it' attitude.
"He's been set the task, and he wants to do it for Lola and for Lexi."
The actor then went on to explain that preparing for the marathon will be a "positive thing" that could help Jay cope with his grief after previously heading down a dark path of drug use and narrowly avoiding death in a near-fatal car accident.
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"It's great that Lola has given Jay this challenge because it's something to focus on and hopefully to stop him spiralling again," Borthwick said, adding that Lola's daughter Lexi will be there to encourage him through training.
"I think Jay welcomes it because it's a really positive thing in his life right now. We haven't seen Jay being a keen runner in the past; while some of the lads are out doing a 5k every morning, he's usually in the caff!"
EastEnders airs on Mondays - Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.
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Organisations including Brain Tumour Research, Macmillan Cancer Support and Stand Up to Cancer can provide help and support to those living with brain cancer and their loved ones.
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