Yolande has strong advice for Nigel in EastEnders amid heartbreaking health battle
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Yolande Trueman (Angela Wynter) encourages Nigel Bates (Paul Bradley) to open up about his dementia diagnosis in EastEnders next week. The soap legend returned after a whopping 26 years at Christmas, and it immediately became clear that he wasn’t telling the whole truth surrounding his circumstances.
![[Nigel Bates looks worried in EastEnders]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/501219-f1c1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
He had clearly fallen on hard times, and told old pal Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) that he was homeless and estranged from wife Julie (Karen Henthorn). Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth) was keen to help him rebuild his life, and offered him a part time job working at the Bridge Street Cafe.
![[Nigel and Phil arrive at The Vic on New Year's Eve in EastEnders]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/499870-2f48.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
It was there that Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) confronted him with concerns that Nigel was abusing Phil’s fragile nature. When he heard that Nige was Dot Cotton’s (June Brown) old lodger, those doubts were soon brushed to one side. Soon after, Julie sent an emotional voicemail message, begging her husband to return home.
Phil then dealt a huge shock when he made an irrational decision to sign over his half of The Boxing Den to Nigel. Everyone was stunned by the proposal, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. As a result, Nige attempted to flee the area but found a shoulder to cry on in the laundrette – Yolande. In emotional scenes, he confessed that he’d been diagnosed with dementia.
Earlier in the month, we’d seen him mistakenly refer to Phil as his brother Grant (Ross Kemp), and then hand him the wrong takeaway curry. Phil and Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) became concerned about his whereabouts, whilst Yolande convinced him to return back to the Mitchell residence.
