EastEnders exit confirmed for controversial character – and it’s explosive

Initially, she just seemed like a harmless oddball, didn’t she? An unfortunate victim of childhood teasing and isolation at the hands of queen bee, Linda Carter (Kellie Bright), and her ‘pink posse’, Bea Pollard (Ronni Ancona)’s EastEnders debut was more tragic than terrifying, right?

Well that sure changed in a hurry. Now we, the audience, know what an utter bunny boiler she is, and as her insane behaviour only continues to intensify as she zeroes in on claiming Honey Mitchell (Emma Barton) for her own, we’re at the beginning of the end of Bea.

As rumours began to swirl over when Bea’s storyline would come to a head, we approached the show itself, and an EastEnders spokesperson said:

‘As we previously announced, Ronni Ancona joined EastEnders for a short stint, which was then extended, for a very dramatic storyline which will unfold over the next few weeks’.

We always knew Bea would only be around for a short stint, and the soap gods apparently blessed us with a slightly longer stint to enjoy her special brand of insidious scheming, but it looks as though we’re reaching a crescendo.

But how much more creepy can Bea get?

Bea Pollard’s EastEnders arrival

How did we get here?

After an unfortunate spot of bag-swapping at an ill-fated high school reunion, Honey and Linda, the latter feeling guilty over her former treatment of Bea at school and the former feeling guilty over actually pretending to be Bea, endeavoured to make sure her bag got back to her, tracking down her flat to complete the task.

When they arrived there, though, they found her flatmate tossing her belongings out.

Though Honey, Linda, and we as the audience, found him to be callous and treating Bea with the utmost cruelty, the earliest warning signs came when he told the ladies about how dark and insidious Bea’s behaviour truly was.

With the guilt still burning strong inside, Linda made sure Bea had a place to stay, sorting her some accommodation at mum Elaine Peacock’s (Harriet Thorpe) boutique hotel (which is absolutely not a B&B), and more chaos ensued when Bea ended up on a fake date with Max Branning (Jake Wood).

This was before she turned her attention to Honey…

She’s skilfully engineered her way into Honey’s orbit by engineering a shoplifting-prevention, deeply impressing Vinny Panesar (Shiv Jalota) and winning herself a job at the Minute Mart, alongside Honey.

Bea targets Honey

Revealing a deeply insidious side, she got Honey drunk and as an unassuming Honey began to vent about their boss, Suki Panesar-Unwin (Balvinder Sopal), Bea continued to dig for more tea and, upon learning Suki once tried to kiss Honey, she attempted to hatch a plan that would see them earn thousands in compensation.

The only problem? Honey was too drunk, sent an angry email and scuppered the scheme before it even got off the ground. Though Bea was able to save Honey’s job, she herself was left out in the cold.

A guilty Honey offered Bea the chance to house sit while she, Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) and their kids Will (Freddie Phillips) and Janet (Grace) went away, but when Billy returned early, he found she’d eaten them out of house and home, after obtaining a credit card in Honey’s name. Her rage exploded at McClunky’s when Honey asked her to leave, and she trashed the place, later framing it as an attack to a sympathetic Will.

Ian Beale was next

As the Mitchells agreed it was time for Bea to leave, she quickly spied her next target, Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), but her manipulation of his council campaign and dangerously obsessive behaviour led him to kick her to the kerb, while also exposing her credit card fraud.

While Honey’s anger was tinged with sympathy, Billy was insistent that Bea go for good. She responded by tampering with his ladder, but with Honey the next to use it, she ended up injured as a result of Bea’s rage.

With Bea unwilling to let Honey go, and armed with a fake AI app and a sample of Billy’s voice, we’d bet good money on her getting even creepier before her upcoming departure.

Good money.