Love is in the air as Nigel and Julie renew their vows in EastEnders

Next week on EastEnders, as Nigel and Julie renew their vows in front of their loved ones, Phil is hiding yet another massive secret!

It’s been over a year since Nigel (Paul Bradley) first returned to Walford and revealed that he had been diagnosed with early onset dementia.

In recent months, with Nigel’s condition worsening, Julie (Karen Henthorn) and Phil (Steve McFadden) made the decision that it was time to get some extra help by moving Nigel into a care home.

However, after Nigel made an off-the-cuff remark about wanting to go to the beach, Phil changed his mind about the care home idea and started making plans to move him and Nigel to Portugal to stay with Grant.

This week, Julie made an early return to Albert Square, taking Phil by surprise, as he’d been planning to take Nigel away to Portugal that very night.

When Phil told Mark that Julie’s return wouldn’t stop him from taking Nigel away, Mark decided to quietly tell Julie the truth – partly to stop his Uncle Phil from leaving when he needed his help to track down a police informant.

Julie soon convinced Phil to hand over Nigel’s passport, preventing him from taking him away, and made it clear that she’d be taking Nigel to live elsewhere as she continues to search for a care home for him.

She moved him out of No. 1 and into Peacock’s Palace while she searched for somewhere more permanent, and as we return to the plot next week, Nigel is struggling to settle into the unfamiliar surroundings (despite the boutique hotel sharing practically the same decor as Phil’s place!)

Linda (Kellie Bright) asks Phil to give Julie more support with the move, unaware that Phil’s actions are exactly why Nigel and Julie were moving out in the first place.

Later, Linda overhears Julie cancelling plans, and offers to sit with Nigel to give her a well-deserved break. However, Nigel becomes distressed as Julie goes to leave, and accidentally manages to injure her once again.

As Nigel’s condition worsens, he has been increasingly lashing out, and managed to injure Julie before his Christmas show performance, accidentally hitting her when he was getting flustered over his missing cufflinks.

As Linda spots multiple bruises on Julie’s arms, she becomes increasingly concerned for her wellbeing.

She tries to get Phil to intervene and help take the burden off Julie, but is left shocked when Julie reveals to her Phil’s plans to take Nigel to Portugal without telling her.

Wanting to make a romantic gesture before Nigel’s memory issues become more frequent and he completely forgets who she is, Julie decides she’s going to organise a vow renewal, and Linda offers to help out.

Julie accepts Linda’s offer to help, but on one condition – Phil isn’t invited to the vow renewal!

Over at No. 1, Phil gets a call from the care home, where it’s revealed that they now have a place available for Nigel – but, still not wanting Nigel to spend his remaining years locked away, he decides not to pass the information on to Julie.

Next Wednesday, the day of the vow renewal arrives, as the final preparations are put in place at Harry’s Barn.

However, Phil still hasn’t hold Julie about the care home place, despite needing to accept it within 24 hours.

Nigel assumes that Phil is his best man and wanders over to Phil’s to get ready, leaving Phil angry as he realises that Julie was planning to go ahead with a vow renewal without telling him.

Phil eventually agrees to take Nigel to the wedding and then leave, and he accompanies his best friend to Harry’s Barn, where the residents of Albert Square are waiting.

Kim (Tameka Empson) plays the role of celebrant for the pair.

However, realising that both he and Julie have been keeping secrets from each other, will Phil eventually fess up and tell Julie about the care home place before it’s too late?

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Here are the EastEnders spoilers for next week:

Monday 2nd February (Episode 7271)

Vicki faces a big decision, Bea is excited about making a fresh start, and Linda is worried about a friend.

Tuesday 3rd February (Episode 7272)

Ross seeks the truth, Phil gets an important phone call, and Honey spills a secret.

Wednesday 4th February (Episode 7273)

Linda goes over and above for Nigel and Julie, Patrick tries to get answers, and Barney stumbles upon some shocking information.

Thursday 5th February (Episode 7274)

Denise and Kim rally around Patrick, Priya and Ravi make a move to protect Nugget, Barney is left in distress, and Honey tries her best to reassure Bea.

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