EastEnders' Sharon Rickman is thrown out of the house by Phil Mitchell when he discovers her painkiller addiction.
Phil, played by Steve McFadden, had been rekindling his romance with old flame Sharon (Letitia Dean), but leaves her in the street with nowhere to go when her secret comes out.
Sharon had recently been discovered passed out in the bathroom by Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold) while Lola's baby daughter Lexi was left unattended downstairs.
When Lola realised Sharon was addicted to painkillers she threatened to tell Phil, who has been taking care of baby Lexi since her return from social services. But Phil throws Sharon out of the house when he finds Sharon passed out on the sofa and Lexi playing with a bottle of her pills.
Having battled his own drug and alcohol addictions, he can see all the signs in his girlfriend and knows he can't risk the family losing Lexi because of her.
Letitia told Inside Soap that she hoped Phil's experience of addiction would make him more sympathetic to her character.
She said: "I really hope the writers pursue that because Phil should understand what Sharon is going through. I think it is very important that they have that talk. Phil probably has a lot of things he could say to Sharon about addiction."
The scenes in which Phil leaves Sharon destitute will screen on EastEnders on Tuesday, May 21 on BBC1.
