EastEnders fans may have expected Kim Fox’s (Tameka Empson) wedding to be a next-level extra occasion, but it promises to be ‘warming of the heart’ after an emotional setback changes the course of her big day. 

Walford’s resident ‘Kimfluencer’ is due to walk down the aisle with fiancé Howie Danes (Delroy Atkinson) in the BBC soap next week, but it is tinged with sadness as her sister Denise Fox (Diane Parish) is currently undergoing intensive treatment for blood cancer. 

As the big day looms, Kim is devastated that Denise is still too sick to attend the wedding, but Howie is determined to involve her in the celebrations somehow. 

At the ceremony, it turns out he’s arranged to have Denise appear by video-link, but it upsets Kim to see her so ill, so Howie makes a last-minute change to proceedings and the couple head to Denise’s hospital room to get married.

‘Even though it may not go according to plan, it’s still a great wedding,’ Tameka Empson, who plays Kim, tells Metro. ‘It’s gonna be warming of the heart. I’m hoping people might shed a tear of joy!’

She continues: ‘The whole thing is to adapt… and she does get her sister involved in a way that you wouldn’t think was possible. But she couldn’t have done anything in her life without her sister.’

It’s set to be an incredibly emotional experience for Denise too, with actress Diane Parish calling it the ‘best thing that could possibly happen’.

‘There’s vicarious joy to be had from Kim getting married,’ she explains to Metro. ‘What other joy has Denise got in those four very clinical walls and the sounds of the machines?

‘Seeing her baby sister marry the love of her life, it’s the highlight of this period of time for Denise.’

After Kim and Howie tie the knot, the Fox family are brought even more joy when Denise’s doctor arrives and reveals they have found a provisional stem cell match for her.

With Denise’s chemotherapy having not worked as doctors predicted, the news offers her and her loved ones the biggest hope so far of a recovery. 

Speaking about Denise’s gruelling storyline, Diane says: ‘It is tough, as with the illness, because we’re in continuing drama, so we play it in real time… We can’t skip ahead and go ‘right, she’s all better’. We have to do it justice, not just for the show, but for the people who are actually suffering; they want to feel seen. 

‘I’m determined to make sure that they feel seen in the most genuine, honest way that we can.’

EastEnders airs these scenes from Monday 7th September at 7.30pm on BBC One or stream first from 6am on iPlayer.


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