NIGEL Bates has revealed the heartbreaking truth about his dementia battle in EastEnders – as the soap teased another big comeback.
Viewers were delighted to see Nigel – played by Paul Bradley – return to Albert Square on Christmas Eve 2024 – after 26 years away.
In recent scenes, it was revealed that Nigel had been diagnosed with dementia.
Sat with Yolande (Angela Wynter) in the launderette, he opened up about his situation.
Nigel previously said his wife Julie (Karen Henthorn) left him for another man.
After hearing about diagnosis, Yolande assumed Julie left Nigel for selfish reasons and questioned how someone could do such a thing.
It turned out Julie didn’t know about her husband’s condition to begin with.
Nigel explained: “When I got the diagnosis, I went home, packed a bag and walked out.
“No note, no goodbyes, just vanished.”
He continued: “The doctor didn’t know how quickly my symptoms would develop.
“I had to act while I still could – while I still had a choice.”
Yolande asked Nigel if that meant he’d been unhappy in his marriage – but he firmly denied this.
Nigel said: “My illness, I’ve got the easy part. I won’t know the end’s coming but Julie…
“If I’d stayed, she’d have had to watch me shrinking away.
“Sometimes, me not even remembering who she is. I couldn’t do that to her.”
Later on, the pair had another heart-to-heart in Dot Cotton’s (June Brown) old kitchen.
As he sat there, Nigel recalled happy memories with “Mrs C”, while Yolande offered her new friend some comfort through prayer.
Earlier this week, EastEnders aired a surprise voice cameo for Julie, who was last physically seen in 1998.
She begged: “Nigel, it’s Julie again. I don’t know if you got my last message or…
Dementia – the most common form of which is Alzheimer’s – comes on slowly over time.
As the disease progresses, symptoms can become more severe.
But at the beginning, the symptoms can be subtle or mistaken for normal memory issues related to ageing.
The US National Institute on Aging gives some examples of what is considered normal forgetfulness in old age, and dementia disease.
You can refer to these above.
For example, it is normal for an ageing person to forget which word to use from time-to-time, but difficulting having conversation would be more indicative of dementia.
Katie Puckering, Head of Alzheimer’s Research UK’s Information Services team, previously told The Sun: “We quite commonly as humans put our car keys somewhere out of the ordinary and it takes longer for us to find them.
“As you get older, it takes longer for you to recall, or you really have to think; What was I doing? Where was I? What distracted me? Was it that I had to let the dog out? And then you find the keys by the back door.
“That process of retrieving the information is just a bit slower in people as they age.
“In dementia, someone may not be able to recall that information and what they did when they came into the house.
“What may also happen is they might put it somewhere it really doesn’t belong. For example, rather than putting the milk back in the fridge, they put the kettle in the fridge.”
“Listen, Nigel, I promise I’m not cross, whatever reason you walked out and disappeared, I just really need to know if you’re alright mate.
“I miss you. I love you, Nigel.”
Could viewers soon be seeing Julie back on the Square?
EastEnders airs on BBC One and iPlayer.
