BBC EastEnders viewers say Lacey Turner ‘deserves’ BAFTA for ‘heartbreaking’ Stacey Slater scene

Stacey is currently dealing with the fallout of Martin Fowler’s tragic death after the Queen Vic explosion

EastEnders fans were left feeling emotional on Monday (February 24) following an episode which saw Lacey Turner’s Stacey Slater dealing with the aftermath of Martin Fowler’s death.

Stacey’s ex-husband died at the conclusion of the BBC soap’s 40th anniversary live episode on Thursday (February 20), moments after confessing his love and proposing to her.

After waiting a weekend to see how Stacey would cope in the wake of Martin’s death, Stacey was the vocal point of the first episode since she had to say goodbye to the beloved fruit and vegetable salesman.

The episode began with Stacey crying on her sofa, with her mum Jean attempting to reassure her that everything was going to be okay. Asking Jean to keep a secret, Stacey revealed to her about Martin choosing her over his girlfriend Ruby Allen as she questioned if he was “actually gone”.

Unsure of how to break the news to her and Martin’s children, Stacey stormed out of the house where she saw some Albert Square residents placing flowers on Martin’s market stall. Hastily asking them to remove their tributes as the kids didn’t know he was dead, a tearful Stacey was comforted by Ian and Kathy Beale.

Later in the episode, Stacey paid a visit to Sonia, who had just given birth when Martin died, as they reflected on both of them being married and having children with him.

Encouraraged by her talk with Sonia, the episode concluded with Stacey bravgely telling the truth to her children that their dad is no longer with them.

“He was brave your dad. We talked about lots of things, we talked about you, all three of you. And how much he loved you… he knew how loved he was. He knew how loved he was right to the end.”

Those watching at home rushed to X, formerly known as Twitter, to commend Lacey’s challenging performance, with @BRATTYBARBl saying: “Give her that BAFTA… and Best Actress at this year’s Soap Awards again #EastEnders.” @HausOfLukee: added: “Someone get Lacey Turner a chiropractor because she has been carrying this soap on her back for years. What a performance.”

@StaceysBoots commented: “Give Lacey Turner all the awards. My poor Stacey was the picture of grief today. #EastEnders.” @eds_afterglow wrote: “Lacey Turner is the best on screen cryer because nothing is fake about this, this is real emotion going into Stacey ‘s storylines, she’s always been incredible.”

@WalfordEast posted: “#EastEnders have the best actors, don’t they? I felt everything. Lacey Turner really is someone special.” @AthollMills said: “An absolute powerhouse performance by Lacey Turner again in tonight’s #Eastenders had me in tears (again).”

Meanwhile, Martin’s actor James Bye was full of praise for his former on-screen wife Lacey during his appearance on The One Show on Monday evening as he lifted the lid on his character’s death.

“I told the exec producer that, well after he made the decision, that you have to let me tell Lacey. Anyone else you can tell, but that was the most difficult conversation. Other than telling my wife, she wasn’t over the moon with it, to be fair.

“But telling Lacey was tough and it has been a really emotional couple of months, Joy and some tears, we have worked together a lot. But to do it on an episode like that, it’s such a special night.

“I will never forget it, I will probably never get the chance to do something like that ever again. I will never forget that and the response from the audience has blown my mind honestly, it’s so overwhelming,” he said.