EastEnders spoiler for today May 16, 2023: dying Lola Pearce goes missing

LOLA Pearce was forced to make a heart-breaking decision about her job at Fox & Hare.

But tonight in EastEnders, as Kim Fox organises a leaving do in her honour, the beloved character suddenly vanishes.

BBC One viewers were devastated when Lola’s deteriorating health prevented her from working at Fox & Hare.

Diagnosed with a brain tumour, the hairstylist played by Danielle Harold was given a gut-wrenching prognosis as she only has a limited amount of time to live.

Before making her exit, Lola is making some last happy memories with her loved ones and tonight, Kim Fox (portrayed by Tameka Empson) decides to organise a leaving party karaoke for her at the salon.

But when her anxiety gets the best of her, Kim forgets to hire a karaoke machine.

Thankfully, Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) manages to bond with new Vic landlady Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) who later saves the day with her own swanky karaoke machine.

Although everything is sorted for Lola’s leaving do, the events of the day become too much to handle for her and she secretly retreats outside.

Later on, Denise Fox (Diane Parish), Honey Mitchell (Emma Barton) and Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) come to the realisation that Lola is missing and panic as she’s nowhere to be found.

Lola’s husband Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) and her grandfather Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) join the search and eventually find her confused, on the floor outside The Boxing Den.

All seems to be resolved – until Lola panics when her speech and mobility are both impaired as her brain tumour takes slowly over.

The heart-breaking storyline is due to end in upcoming weeks with Walford residents later gathering round for a festival-style funeral in honour of Lola.

Danielle Harold has already filmed her character’s last ever scenes but how will they play out on our screens?

EastEnders airs tonight from 7.30pm on BBC One.