EastEnders' Phil Mitchell faces worrying triple setback following mental health storyline

At the start of this year, EastEnders fans witnessed a devastating mental health storyline involving Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) as he was admitted to a mental health unit.

In March, Phil was discharged from the unit, and fans have seen him slowly get back to his usual self. Phil spent most of his time caring for his friend Nigel Bates who had been diagnosed with dementia, and in recent weeks, viewers had seen the smile back on Phil's face.

However, things have come crashing down for Phil this week, realised Callum was cheating on Ben,As Jay contacted Nigel's wife Julie, she came to Walford and took him back to Scotland with her. A devastated Phil couldn't bear to say goodbye to his friend, as he left in a black cab.

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During tonight's episode, it was evident Phil was struggling with Nigel's departure as he snapped at Kathy in the café. Although things looked up as he received a pep talk from his friend Linda, things took a drastic turn when he caught his son in law Callum with Johnny upstairs in the pub.

Phil's anger got the better of him as he realised Callum was cheating on Ben, as he lashed out and attempted to strangle Johnny. "That's my son's husband you're messing with, do you understand me?!" he screamed as he had his hands around Johnny's neck.

However, it wasn't just Callum Johnny Phil lashed out at as he questioned Linda on how long she'd been "letting these two bunk up" in the pub. Jay and Billy were also on hand trying to calm Phil down but Jay is also in Phil's bad books after he contacted Julie without consulting him first.

Towards the end of the episode, a raging Phil told Jay and Callum he was going to tell Ben that Callum had been "playing away."

Still reeling from his discovery, Phil told the pair: "I think it's about time Lexi lived with her real family, you know. Someone who's got his own place, who's a blood relative. Who's willing and able to take on his granddaughter."

"I'm Lexi's guardian, that's what Lola wanted," Jay responded. However, Phil wasn't having any of it as he told Jay: "But Lola ain't here, is she?"

As Jay stormed out, Callum told Phil he couldn't do that, to which he responded: "Watch me."

However, fans aren't convinced Phil will actually go through with it, as one took to X, formerly known as Twitter to write: "Phil won’t really take Lexi away (she’s 13 now so it wouldn’t go to court & she’d just be asked where she wasn’t to live). He’s angry & feels like Jay has taken away the only thing he had left, so wants to take away the only thing JAY feels he has left in return."

However, now Phil seems to have pushed Jay, Callum and Linda away - and Nigel has gone back to Scotland, fans are worried about his mental health. We last saw him isolate himself when he was struggling.

"EE wanting Phil to have absolutely no one is testing me. Everyone has THE WORST timing #EastEnders," said one.

How will the future pan out for Phil?

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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