EastEnders favourite Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) could meet a heartbreaking end as she is involved in a shocking accident ahead of her exit.
To coincide with her departure, Whitney is set to reunite with her step-mum Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer) in the spring as she and boyfriend Zack Hudson (James Farrar) go to visit her in Milton Keynes following her break up with Terry.
However, a devastating development to Whitney's exit storyline has been revealed in new paparazzi pictures as she becomes embroiled in a deadly ordeal.
The pictures show Patsy, Shona, James and Natalie Cassidy (Sonia Fowler) shooting on-location, while Whitney is looking heavily pregnant as she is expecting a baby with Zack.
After previously being pictured helping a mysterious young girl who is bin diving for food, it has been rumoured that Whitney will be involved in a dangerous accident while trying to help the same teen.
It's thought that Bianca, Zack and Sonia will help Whitney look out for the girl, but the situation plunges into chaos when they meet her drug-addicted mother.
More pictures seemingly show Whitney saving the girl and pushing her out of the way as an oncoming car ploughs into Whitney and hits her, sending her flying across the windscreen.
Zack and Sonia look on in horror as they see Whitney being run over, sparking speculation that she could meet a tragic demise. But we'll have to wait and see if this is part of Whitney's exit storyline.
Talking to Inside Soap Magazine, Shona reassured fans that Whitney won't be killed off and hasn't ruled out a return in the future. But could she be saying that to put fans off the scent?
She said: "The door’s open and I could always come back in the future. But at the moment, I want to pursue things that are in my heart, like singing — stuff that I’ve been doing since childhood and dreaming about. EastEnders has been amazing; I just want to do other things."
EastEnders airs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7.30 pm on BBC One — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on episodes on BBC iPlayer now.
