EastEnders fans in tears as Lola 'RETURNS' from the dead in poignant twist

EastEnders fans sobbed as Lola Pearce-Brown (Danielle Harold) 'returned' from the dead in a touching twist at the end of her final episode tonight (Wednesday, May 31).

The Square was sombre and quiet as the news spread that terminally ill Lola had just hours to live.

Lola's health had rapidly deteriorated and her distraught family began saying their final goodbyes as her last moments edged closer. 

As the clock ticked into the early hours of the morning, Lola's husband Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) sat by his wife's bedside and spoke to her as she slept.

Jay cried as he refused to say goodbye to the love of his life, telling her: "You ain't leaving me. You're still here. You're in my bones. You're in my veins. You're still here. And when it's my time... if there's a God... we'll have another shot at this."

A reeling Jay then talked about reincarnation and what they could come back as after they've died. He joked that maybe he, Lola and Lexi could come back as a family of ants when their time eventually comes.

"Yeah, all right, maybe I have gone a bit doolally sat here with you, but do you blame me? If you don't want to come back as an ant, what do you want to come back as?" he questioned.

As Lola lay asleep, a surprised Jay added: "A fox, yeah? Yeah, I can see you coming back as a fox. Wily, sassy, scrappy. Sexy, too. Yeah, all right, you can come back as a fox."

Jay then asked Lola what he would come back as, to which he replied: "A rat! That's a bit below the belt that babe. Still... I'd come back as a rat. As long as I get to rummage through the bins with you, I'll take whatever I'm given. See, although you ain't speaking. I can still hear you. Your gobby voice is going to be in my head forever."

Later on, Lola sadly passed away as the morning sunrise poured in through the window, with her daughter Lexi cuddling her in bed and Jay by her side.

As the emotional episode came to a close, fans were in floods of tears as a fox was seen running across the Square after Lola had died — a poignant touch to symbolise Lola 'returning' from the dead as a fox...

EastEnders continues tomorrow at 7:30pm on BBC One.