Yahoo News EastEnders star Lucy Benjamin explains Lisa Fowler's sad secret
EastEnders spoilers follow.
EastEnders star Lucy Benjamin has opened up about Lisa Fowler's sad secret as she returns to Albert Square.
The actress made her comeback as the character on the BBC soap last night (July 10), though it is already clear that there is more to her arrival than appears, as it quickly becomes apparent that there are financial issues.
Returning in tow with granddaughter Peggy, Keanu will also make some shocking decisions in order to build a bond with his daughter, while Lisa says that daughter Louise has gone off the rails in Portugal.
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"She's saying that Louise has turned to drink and to drugs and she would just go missing for weeks on end," Lucy revealed to Digital Spy and other press.
"Lisa basically had the responsibility of looking after Peggy when they moved away, through what had gone on with Sharon and Keanu.
"Louise went to pot, really, and everything came crumbling down around her. So Lisa had to step up and take responsibility of Peggy."
It soon becomes clear, however, that Lisa secretly has a gambling problem, the actress explaining: "I was given as a backstory that the reason Lisa turns to gambling is as a result of the fact that Louise does then start to pull herself together and Lisa isn’t then needed as much as she has been needed before.
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"So then, therefore, she then turns to gambling because she feels surplus to requirements.
"Louise starts off at the beginning of the backstory that she’s unravelling, but then she does actually pull herself together, and then unfortunately Lisa starts to unravel with the gambling."
Lucy described the gambling as a "vicious circle that she knows she’s doing but she just can’t stop", and that "she just can’t help herself".
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"It’s not just online," the star added. "You’ll see her in the Vic, and it’s the fruit machines, and she just can’t stop putting the money into the fruit machines. It’s this vicious cycle that she doesn’t want to do it.
"It started off that she felt she was trying to help Louise by bringing some money in and creating a family unit, and then it just takes over and spirals out of control. But she knows she’s in a lot of trouble with it."
The National Gambling Treatment Service offers free, confidential help for anyone who is worried about their gambling, or someone else's gambling. Call the 24-hour freephone National Gambling Helpline on 0808 802 0133, or visit begambleaware.org. Further information and resources can be found on the Gambling Commission's website.
EastEnders airs on Mondays - Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer.
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