UPDATE: |EastEnders fans ‘crying’ as unexpected character leaves with Sonia Fowler in big twist News

The surpised exit came from a star who first joined the soap in 1993

EastEnders fans were left ‘crying’ as an unexpected character left Albert Square with Sonia Fowler in a big twist on the show.

Fans headed into Thursday night’s (April 17) episode prepared to say goodbye to Sonia and her actress Natalie Cassidy.

Despite the entire week being dedicated to Sonia on the BBC soap’s social media, another major character left with her.

Sonia has been dealing with the arrival of her father Terry Cant, who has been missing for her life ever since she joined the show in 1993.

Initially skeptical about Terry’s presence, Sonia decided to move with him, Bex and Julia to Bali, where he said he runs a wellness business.

However, viewers were left stunned when Terry grabbed Bianca Jackson on Wednesday (April 16) after she revealed she didn’t trust him.

At the start of Thursday’s episode, Kat and Feddie Slater encouraged Bianca to tell Sonia what happened, leading to her revealing the bruises on her arm.

A furious Sonia was unsure what to do after confronting Terry, so she paid a visit to Tom ‘Rocky’ Cotton in prison.

Not seen since he left the show 2023, Brian Conley’s character previously lied to Sonia about being her dad, but ended up becoming close with the mum-of-two.

Deciding to go through with leaving, Sonia decided that she was going to stay with Whitney Dean instead of going to Bali.

In a deperate attempt to stop Sonia, Terry let slip that he didn’t actually care about his daughter and just wanted to be seen better in the public eye after Bianca’s podcast episode was released.

When things got physical, Bex pushed Terry into the garage and locked the door. In a rare piece of happy news for the family, Bex still had the tickets to Bali.

While Patsy Palmer previously announced that she was leaving after returning last year, no one knew that she would take Terry’s ticket and leave with her sister.

In a hilarious final scene, Bianca said to let Terry out in a few hours as they stole his car and drove off into the sunset as Sonia played her trumpet.

Those watching at home took to X, previously known as Twitter, to express their sadness that Bianca left in spite of them being happy that her and Sonia are back on the same page.

@jones_emma54777 said: “I knew, in the end, Sonia and Bianca would leave together #EastEnders.”@audsldn added: “Awww Sonia and Bianca’s send off was so lovely #EastEnders!”

@aotalks wrote: “The silliest exit storyline but Bianca, Sonia and Bex getting stealing free tickets to Bali from Son’s “dad” is hilarious. A bit of joy.” @kaysiemay7 posted: “That episode was the perfect send off for both Sonia and Bianca. I’m all choked up!”

@angelicronance commented: “Crying at tonight’s episode of Eastenders. It was a perfect send off for Sonia, Bianca and Bex. I hope to see them back soon. Their scripted goodbyes to everyone was definitely the actual people saying goodbye to Nat and Patsy, rather than Sonia and Bianca.”

Bianca’s actress Patsy, who also joined EastEnders in 1993, is currently competing on the latest season of Celebrity Big Brother.

A recent installment of the ITV reality show saw her admit that she’s only been home for eight weeks since going back to the role that made her a household name.