EastEnders to air surprise leaving party for MAIN character tonight as sickening storyline ends

EastEnders will air a leaving party for Jade Masood (Elizabeth Green) as she prepares to depart the Square after three months.

Jade came back to stay with her dad Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) in January after having a lung transplant. Following the surgery, Jade was having problems with her mum Shabnam Masood (Rakhee Thakrar), so returned to the Square to spend some time with Dean.

But when cystic fibrosis sufferer Jade told Dean that she was moving to Pakistan with her mum, Dean conjured up a truly sick plan to keep her in the country.

When Jade contracted a chest infection, Dean started opening Jade's pill capsules and emptying the contents down the sink.

Dean continued to cruelly tamper with Jade's antibiotics, wanting to keep her ill to stop her from going to live in Pakistan and stay with him. He even manipulated Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) into thinking she was the one who meddled with Jade's medication, until she finally managed to expose his lies.

Dean is currently in prison after being framed for Keanu Taylor's (Danny Walters) murder by The Six.

The ladies devised a plan to make Dean the prime suspect, which saw Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) plant the murder weapon in his apartment.

Jade was devastated when she learned that her dad had been tampering with her medication to keep her ill and ever since he got banged up, she has been preparing to go to Pakistan.

In tonight's episode (Wednesday, April 24), Jade receives a letter from Dean asking her to visit him in prison before she flies to Pakistan, but the Slaters are totally against the idea. After receiving backing from Jean, Stacey is able to convince Jade not to visit him.

The family throw Jade a leaving party in the Vic, but Jade begins to reconsider her decision about seeing Dean after a comment from Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James).

On the day she's meant to leave for Pakistan, Jade decides to see her dad one last time.

Jean goes with Jade to the prison, where Dean is determined to prove his innocence and vehemently denies any involvement in Keanu's murder.

However, Dean can't bring himself to admit he tampered with Jade's medication to stop her leaving and claims he's innocent of that charge too. Will Jade fall for her father's lies? Could this stop her from leaving the Square?

EastEnders airs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7.30 pm on BBC One — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on episodes on BBC iPlayer now.