‘EastEnders’ fans can't get enough of Stuart and Jean's unexpected friendship

EastEnders viewers were delighted to see two unlikely characters, Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ) and Jean Slater (Gillian Wright), become 'breasties' as the two formed a special friendship due to their experiences with cancer during last night’s episode (Thursday, Jan. 27).

Fans will know that Stuart finally told his wife Rainie (Tanya Franks) about his breast cancer diagnosis after weeks of struggling to cope. Currently, Stuart is refusing to have painkillers after his upcoming operation as he’s petrified his drug addiction will come back.

Last night, Stuart bumped into Jean at the café and wanted some advice due to her being a cancer survivor. Initially, their conversation was rather awkward as he wasn’t sure how to bring up the topic, but he eventually opened up to her about his cancer diagnosis.

Jean was diagnosed with ovarian cancer back in 2019 and defeated it. However, last year she found a lump in her breast and believed she had breast cancer. Luckily, she didn’t and it was a benign lump, with the side effects being caused by stress.

The two had a heart-to-heart about their experiences, with Jean saying that while the diagnosis was the worst thing to happen to her, she appreciated that it made her realise how much people loved her and how precious life is.

However, Jean unintentionally gave Stuart some terrible advice when she spoke about natural remedies.

 “So, it doesn’t have to be all surgery and meds?” Stuart asked. But when Jean tried to explain that the remedies can help with the pain after the surgery, rather than be an actual replacement, Stuart was too overjoyed to listen and branded her a 'legend' before walking out of the café. 

Later on, Jean dropped off the forgotten buns at Stuart’s house and said: “We could be breast cancer besties. Breasties!”

But, when Rainie came in and told them the good news that Stuart was going to have the operation that afternoon due to a cancellation, Stuart was adamant that he wasn’t going to have the surgery.

Instead, he was going to go on a holistic retreat, where he would try and cure his cancer without the operation. 

Rainie was furious with Jean for giving him the wrong advice, but when Jean tried to clarify what she meant, Rainie refused to listen and asked her to leave.

Will Stuart go through with the operation?

Viewers took to social media to show their love for Stuart and Jean’s unforeseen friendship and are eager for the EastEnders writers to develop the pair’s friendship further... 

EastEnders airs tomorrow at 8:30pm on BBC1— see our TV Guide for full listings.