EastEnders has confirmed Nigel Bates’ fate, after a cliffhanger which left his life in serious danger. This week, Nigel and his wife Julie renewed their wedding vows in an emotional ceremony, and Julie decided that they would both move back in with Phil Mitchell after their falling out.

Phil tried and failed to tell Julie about Nigel’s care home place, then was distracted when he discovered that it was Mark who informed her of his secret Portugal plan. But meanwhile, Nigel got into his bath unattended and slipped under the surface…

In today’s episode, Phil continued to row with Mark, while Nigel struggled to pull himself out of the water. Phil realised that he had left his friend alone so headed upstairs, and he was horrified to find Nigel underwater unconscious.

Phil and Mark worked quickly to get the water out of Nigel’s lungs, then rang an ambulance. Honey found Julie at Harry’s Barn and told her the news, and she caught her husband as he was being taken away by the paramedics.

Julie went in the ambulance with Nigel, and Phil and Linda followed them to the hospital. As Phil lied and said that he only left his friend for a minute, the doctor explained that Nigel was in a stable condition – but he could have easily died.

Outside, Phil admitted to Linda that he felt guilty because he got distracted and left Nigel alone for longer than he should have.

Linda encouraged him to be honest with Julie, so Phil took her advice and told her the truth. Julie understood and reminded Phil that he ultimately saved Nigel’s life – but she was furious when Phil confessed that he had kept Nigel’s care home place from her.

The pair later spoke properly by Nigel’s bedside and made peace, with Julie saying that Phil was finding it hard to let go of Nigel because he loves him.

Realising that they couldn’t go on like this anymore and that they could no longer care for Nigel properly, Phil and Julie came together and agreed to accept the care home place for him before it was too late – beginning a new chapter of Nigel’s dementia story.