{"id":5596,"date":"2025-04-09T10:19:14","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T10:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/5596\/"},"modified":"2025-04-09T10:19:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T10:19:14","slug":"sonias-huge-eastenders-exit-story-confirmed-as-her-life-changes-forever-soaps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/5596\/","title":{"rendered":"Sonia’s huge EastEnders exit story confirmed as her life changes forever | Soaps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"Sonia
\n\t\tIt\u2019s almost time! (Picture: BBC)<\/p>\n

EastEnders<\/a> fans will say goodbye to a true legend next week as Sonia Fowler<\/a> (Natalie Cassidy<\/a>) prepares to leave Walford for good.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It has been a traumatic few months for Sonia, whose twisted fianc\u00e9 Reiss Colwell<\/a> (Jonny Freeman<\/a>) let her go down for the murder of his comatose wife Debbie, who he\u2019d smothered to death in her care home bed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He then held Sonia\u2019s sister Bianca Jackson<\/a> (Patsy Palmer<\/a>) hostage when she found out the truth about his involvement. But he then met a somewhat darkly comical end when he was killed by a falling bathtub<\/a> in the aftermath of the Queen Vic explosion in February<\/a> \u2013\u00a0just as Sonia was going into labour with their daughter Julia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sonia and Bianca have both struggled in the aftermath of the ordeal, especially as Sonia\u2019s beloved first husband Martin Fowler (James Bye) was also killed<\/a> in the blast.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The siblings\u2019 relationship also hits the rocks this week when Sonia finds out Bianca has gone against her wishes and given an interview to a true-crime podcaster<\/a> about their trauma at Reiss\u2019 hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Things begin to build towards Sonia\u2019s forthcoming exit in scenes to air next week, following actress Natalie Cassidy\u2019s decision to quit the BBC soap<\/a> after 32 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The week begins with Sonia in a state of fury as local gossips Kim Fox<\/a> (Tameka Empson<\/a>) and Mo Harris<\/a> (Laila Morse<\/a>) bring a tour of true-crime fans to her door, and blames Bianca for the increased interest in them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Sonia
\n\t\tSonia has been through an awful lot (Picture: BBC)<\/p>\n

However, Sonia and her daughter Bex Fowler (Jasmine Armfield) are unaware that a man from the tour remains fixated on No.25\u2026<\/p>\n

Later, Bianca returns home to face the music having been turfed out of her best friend Kat Slater<\/a>\u2019s (Jessie Wallace<\/a>) flat, but Sonia orders her to leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After some words from Bex, Sonia is encouraged to take a more sympathetic view towards her sister and they soon make amends after Sonia finds Bianca having in panic attack in the Square Gardens after being accosted by \u2018fans\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Heading to Harry\u2019s Barn for a drink, Bianca is further spooked when she believes an overzealous fan is watching them and chases him to the playground where his identity is soon revealed and he requests an audience with Sonia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Sonia
\n\t\tSonia\u2019s ex-partner Reiss held her sister hostage (Picture: BBC)<\/p>\n

But who is this mystery man, and what does he want with Sonia?<\/p>\n

As we return to Walford on Tuesday, Sonia is still reeling after the truth is revealed. And after her uncle Jack Branning<\/a> (Scott Maslen<\/a>) also gets word of what has happened, he gives her some advice that leaves her pondering whether it\u2019s time to say goodbye to Walford.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still weighing things up, Sonia goes in search of Martin\u2019s other ex-wife Stacey Slater<\/a> (Lacey Turner<\/a>) and the two women share a warm moment as they support each other in their time of need.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Will it be Stacey\u2019s words that push Sonia to leave Albert Square behind?<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tFollow Metro Soaps on WhatsApp and get all the latest spoilers first!\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Want to be the first to hear shocking EastEnders spoilers? Who\u2019s leaving Coronation Street? The latest gossip from Emmerdale?<\/p>\n

Join 10,000 soaps fans on Metro’s WhatsApp Soaps community<\/a> and get access to spoiler galleries, must-watch videos, and exclusive interviews.<\/p>\n

Simply\u00a0click on this link<\/strong><\/a>, select \u2018Join Chat\u2019 and you\u2019re in! Don’t forget to turn on notifications so you can see when we’ve just dropped the latest spoilers! <\/p>\n

Upon announcing her decision to quit her role as Sonia earlier this year, Natalie Cassidy said in a statement: \u2018I feel extremely sad to be writing this, but also very excited.<\/p>\n

\u2018After another 11 solid years back on The Square, I have decided it\u2019s time to move on to pastures new. EastEnders is in my bones so I will never forget where I started my career and I will continue to love the show.<\/p>\n

\u2018Thank you to Chris Clenshaw for the opportunity to be such a big part of the 40th anniversary \u2013 it\u2019s an honour. See ya, Sonia, going but never forgotten.\u2019<\/p>\n

EastEnders airs these scenes from Monday 14 April at 7.30pm on BBC One or stream first from 6am on iPlayer.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: EastEnders horror for Sonia as Bianca\u2019s shameful secret is publicly exposed<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: All 54 EastEnders pictures for next week as tragedy strikes after Martin Fowler funeral<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: EastEnders legend pays tribute to \u2018love of her life\u2019 after death in early BBC iPlayer release<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tThe Soaps Newsletter \u2013 Daily<\/p>\n

All the latest soaps spoilers and gossip, in your inbox every morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s almost time! (Picture: BBC) EastEnders fans will say goodbye to a true legend next week as Sonia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[428,77,3008,237,3009,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-5596","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-eastenders","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-natalie-cassidy","11":"tag-soaps","12":"tag-sonia-fowler","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114307502603458512","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}