EastEnders fans in tears as Stacey shares emotional admission after Martin Fowler's death

EastEnders fans were left sobbing in the aftermath of Martin Fowler's death.

On Thursday night, the nation tuned into the BBC One soap operas live episode to celebrate their 40th anniversary which came with some huge twists. In recent days, fans saw the "who dunnit" story involving Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) finally come to an end with Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) revealing she was Cindy's mystery attacker.

But in true EastEnders fashion, soap bosses had big plans for the ruby anniversary episodes, with killer Reiss Colwell (Jonny Freeman) returning to Albert Square. As he attempted to escape, he drove head first into the Queen Vic pub – smashing into several gas canisters, leading to the pub going up in flames and collapsing.

Sadly, it also saw the exit of Martin Fowler (James Bye) who tragically died as a result of the building collapsing. His ex-wife, Stacey Slater, was rescued by Martin but she refused to leave the pub until they declared their true feelings for one another. As she refused to leave, a huge metal beam fell from the ceiling, landing on Martin and crushing his legs.

During the live episode last night, Stacey and Martin made their feelings for one another clear, with Martin asking for her hand in marriage. Sadly, the twist was bittersweet for Stacey, who was told by paramedics that shortly after rescue workers raised the beam to free Martin, he would die due to suffering from crushed syndrome, meaning that his body would go into kidney failure and result in cardiac arrest.

Stacey's worst nightmare came true as she let out a toe-curling scream which could be heard across Walford. In Monday's episode, she was forced to reveal to their children, Lily, Arthur and Hope that Martin had died in truly heartbreaking scenes.

"He was brave, your dad," Stacey said. Adding: "I was with him, we talked about lots of things. We talked about you, all three of you and how much he loved you."

"Is daddy ok now?" asked Hope, as Stacey struggled to contain her tears. "He's dead, isn't he?" asked Lily as Stacey confirmed the devastating blow to their children. Stacey confirmed: "Lil, he knew how loved he was, he knew how loved was right til the end. I'm sorry," as the Slater family consoled one another.

Fans have since taken to social media, revealing they were also left inconsolable following the tear-jerking scenes. One said: "Lacey giving another amazing performance." "Sending shivers down me," commented a second.

Meanwhile a third went on to write: "Heartbreaking when you have 2 tell your children no matter the age that their mum/dad has died, I think its sad especially when the children are under 16 was very emotional, cried again."

"The episode was quite sad with people coming to terms with what happened," said a fourth. A fifth penned: "The hardest thing a parent can ever do. I cried all the way through."

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs onTikTok,Snapchat,Instagram,Twitter,Facebook,YouTubeandThreads.