Holby City aired emotion scenes on Tuesday evening, as Adrian “Fletch” Fletcher was rushed into surgery following his cancer diagnosis. He had been suffering from an unknown health issue which caused him to blackout at work.
Since booking himself in for a test, it was then revealed the Head of Nursing has prostate cancer, which left him shocked and totally devastated.
To make matters worse, his close friend Essie Di Lucca (Kaye Wragg) is also undergoing gruelling chemotherapy for a new brain tumour and now fans are speculating that the two of them could bow out of Holby in the worst way possible.
As Fletch was rushed to theatre, Essie tried to keep his daughter Evie distracted as she watched on in horror.
After a heart to heart, the situation got all too much for Essie, who later broke down in tears at the thought of her pal going through the same thing.
READ MORE: Holby City spoilers: Essie de Lucca to lose daughter Isla?
She was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2018, and had to undergo a hysterectomy to survive.
The news tormented her as she became more fearful of losing the chance of becoming a mum.
Speaking about her cancer storyline, actress Kaye Wragg who plays Essie, told What’s On TV: “At first, Essie thought ‘I’m going to get through this’. But because her cancer is very aggressive, she needs a very potent level of chemo, which made her very poorly.
“The side-effects really knocked her sideways, so she wanted to stop the chemo just to feel normal again. In her head, anything was better than how she was feeling at that time.”
She added: “Essie needed someone to tell her not to give up – and that person was Fletch.”
After it was revealed that Fletch would also be suffer from the relentless and cruel disease, she said that “showing the real struggle of two nurses sharing an illness together yet being alone in their own torture of what their futures hold is Holby at its best”.
She described it as “tough” to watch but believed it would resonate well with cancer sufferers as they go on a journey together, where they would learn “their worst fears” and reflect upon “lost opportunities”.
Holby’s executive producer Simon Harper, also said that his team originally didn’t think they could have two cancer stories running at the same time, but they later realised they should because statistically, the illness affects many people during their lifetime.
He described the story as “two most caring nurses now have to care for each other”.
Holby City airs Tuesdays at 8pm on BBC One.
