EastEnders boss Ben Wadey praises Phil and Nigel's "beautiful" bond and talks "tragic story"
Phil has been acting as his childhood friend Nigel’s carer on the BBC soap.
EastEnders boss Ben Wadey has opened up about Phil Mitchell and Nigel Bates’s “beautiful” bond in the BBC soap.
As viewers of the show will know, Phil (Steve McFadden) decided to take on the big responsibility of acting as Nigel’s (Paul Bradley) carer earlier this year, following his long-time friend's young-onset dementia diagnosis.
Phil has had his own mental health struggles this year, as he has been dealing with depression and attempted to take his own life in February, while viewers have seen his bond with Nigel help him hugely on his journey of recovery.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com at the NTAs, Wadey was asked what's in store for the duo in the future, to which he responded: "I mean, there’s so much for us to explore there.
"It's a beautiful friendship, and Steve and Paul play it so brilliantly. And I think the audience and myself as a fan just invest in watching those two."
He added: "And it's a tragic story of watching your friend slowly, you know, disappear from you. And I think a lot of our audience relate to that. And when you have amazing performances and amazing scripts, the audience just really engage in the kind of story that we're telling."
Steve McFadden added: "Me and Paul love each other to bits as well, because we're very good mates. We're very fond of each other. That helps."
Meanwhile, McFadden said depicting Phil’s mental health storyline had been an "honour".
He said: "In all honesty, I just get the script and I just do the best I can with it, whatever story I get given. But this particular story obviously touches a lot of people. Those people that haven't got a voice, those people that people don't listen to, and to be given such an important storyline was an honour for me."
He added: "I'm very happy that it landed as well as it did, because it obviously touched people and had a massive effect, which I'm chuffed to bits about."
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