EastEnders viewers were left outraged after Jay Brown chose to spend Christmas with new girlfriend Elena instead of stepdaughter Lexi, with fans calling the offscreen exit a ‘character assassination’
Months after the actor was dropped from EastEnders, one character’s off-screen departure is finally taking place. Back in September, Jamie Borthwick was suspended from the BBC following his use of an ableist slur whilst appearing on Strictly Come Dancing.
The broadcaster confirmed he would not be returning to his role as Jay Brown on the soap shortly afterwards. Audiences last glimpsed Jay on screen that same month.
His final scene was a understated moment where he tied the shoelaces of his stepdaughter Lexi Pearce (Isabella Brown), reports the Mirror. Subsequently, the character’s absence was addressed by revealing that he had departed to look after his poorly grandfather Bert.
However, during Monday’s episode (22 December), Jay was referenced once more and what was revealed was regarded by some viewers as a “character assassination”.
In the episode, Lexi, who had organised a screening of Nigel Bates’ film (Paul Bradley), asked her other stepfather Callum Highway (Tony Clay) whether Jay would be attending.
In response, Callum disclosed that Jay had chosen to remain with his new girlfriend, Elena, for Christmas instead, leaving Lexi heartbroken. Fans were baffled and outraged by this development, as Jay had spent several years battling to remain in Lexi’s life following the death of her mother, Lola Pearce-Brown (Danielle Harold).
Whilst they comprehended why Borthwick will not return, one fan felt the off-screen exit was “terrible”. One viewer expressed their disappointment, stating: “And the character assassination of Jay begins. Even if they felt the need to fire the actor that’s no reason to give the character a terrible and out of character offscreen exit.”
Another fan echoed this sentiment, saying: “They’ve really done Jay dirty, after all the promises he made to Lola about being Lexi’s dad he chooses to spend Christmas up north with some new girl and not bother to see Lexi, really out of character.”
A third chimed in with disbelief: “I find it hard to believe that after that entire Lola storyline and Jay having parental rights, that he would just ditch Lexi for a new girlfriend lol?”.
Yet another speculated that EastEnders might keep using the new girlfriend as an excuse for Jay’s absence, turning him into another figure who “lets Lexi down”. They said: “So, they’re writing Jay as letting Lexi down as well. And, I’ll assume #EastEnders are planning on getting Jay and this Elena engaged by the New Year, we’ll hear about the wedding and a baby on the way in the coming months, and that will be Jay’s exit story.”
Another viewer pondered whether this could mark the beginning of Lexi’s “villain” journey.
Lexi’s mum Lola tragically passed away in 2023 after a fierce battle with brain cancer. After her death, an arrangement was made for Lexi to be jointly raised by Jay and her dad Ben Mitchell, who is currently serving time behind bars.
Recently, she has been dealing with a string of heartbreaks, including the divorce between Ben and Callum. Although Ben was moved from a US prison to one in the UK, his absence in Callum’s life paved the way for Johnny Carter to step in.
As Callum and Johnny grew closer, he decided to call it quits with Ben.
This left Lexi devastated and acting out. In a bid to get back at Johnny, she chose to email all his clients at his law firm about his affair with Callum, leading to him losing his job.
However, Johnny seemed to bounce back by starting a new law firm with an enigmatic old mate who seems to have taken a liking to Callum as well.
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