EastEnders’ Chantelle’s murder is lauded ‘powerful and harrowing’ by fans

‘My heart is broken’: Chantelle’s murder is lauded ‘powerful and harrowing’ by EastEnders’ fans as they praise BBC for shedding light on domestic abuse

  • If you have been affected by this story, you can call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline 0808 2000 247 

EastEnders viewers have praised the BBC for the ‘powerful’ yet tragic murder of Chantelle Atkins.  

Fans of the show watched in tears on Friday as Chantelle [Jessica Plumber] was killed off at the hands of her evil husband Gray [Toby Alexander-Smith] after she filed for divorce. 

Chantelle’s decision to leave her controlling spouse followed years of mental and physical abuse at his hand, with the storyline tragically ending in her death.  

Heartbreaking scenes: EastEnders viewers have praised the BBC for the ‘powerful’ yet tragic murder of Chantelle Atkins

Gray thought Chantelle was having an affair with Kheerat Panesar (Jaz Deol) after he overheard her leaving a message on the phone, trying to plan her escape. 

Kheerat’s phone was dead at the time and Gray’s anger reached fever pitch after Chantelle plucked up the courage to tell him she was leaving him.

Seething with rage, Gray threatened to strangle their children in front of her before he chased her around the house, leaving viewers horrified.

Abusive: Fans of the show watched in tears on Friday as Chantelle [Jessica Plumber] was killed off at the hands of her evil husband Gray [Toby Alexander-Smith] after she filed for divorce

Abusive: Fans of the show watched in tears on Friday as Chantelle [Jessica Plumber] was killed off at the hands of her evil husband Gray [Toby Alexander-Smith] after she filed for divorce

Awful: Chantelle's decision to leave her controlling spouse followed years of mental and physical abuse at his hand, with the storyline tragically ending in her death

Awful: Chantelle’s decision to leave her controlling spouse followed years of mental and physical abuse at his hand, with the storyline tragically ending in her death

Powerful: Fans flooded Twitter following the heart-wrenching scenes, where they praised the pair for their 'incredible acting'

Powerful: Fans flooded Twitter following the heart-wrenching scenes, where they praised the pair for their ‘incredible acting’

Fans praised Chantelle for her powerful monologue she said just before her untimely death. 

‘You can cancel my bank cards, you can push me around, you can beat me black and blue but you will never win because I don’t love you any more,’ she told Gray.

‘I lost your baby and I was glad. Look at you, what woman would want to be with a man like you?

‘Weak, pathetic. The only mistake I made was staying this long.’

Murder: Telling Chantelle: 'you're not going anywhere!', Gray pushed her into the opened dishwasher and she was impaled by knives and broken cutlery in gruesome scenes

Murder: Telling Chantelle: ‘you’re not going anywhere!’, Gray pushed her into the opened dishwasher and she was impaled by knives and broken cutlery in gruesome scenes

Telling Chantelle: ‘you’re not going anywhere!’, Gray pushed her into the opened dishwasher and she was impaled by knives and broken cutlery. 

As she begged for help in her final moments, he told her he would call for an ambulance – only to decide the evidence was stacked against him, and so instead decided to walk away. 

Fans flooded Twitter following the heart-wrenching scenes, where they praised the pair for their ‘incredible acting’. 

Tragic end: As she begged for help in her final moments, he told her he would call for an ambulance - only to decide the evidence was stacked against him so walked away instead

Tragic end: As she begged for help in her final moments, he told her he would call for an ambulance – only to decide the evidence was stacked against him so walked away instead

One viewer wrote: ‘The Chantelle storyline broke my heart one of the saddest #Eastenders deaths I’ve seen in a while.’

Meanwhile, another added: ‘I can’t get over how phenomenal Eastenders was lastnight! All I wanted throughout this storyline was for Chantelle to finally have her little Mo moment and stand up to Gray.. and she finally did! Even tho it didn’t work out well for her it was extremely powerful,’ (sic). 

A third fan chimed: ‘Just finished watching #Eastenders and the way i’m crying you’d think Chantelle was my mum’, another viewer tweeted: ‘Was extremely powerful’.

A different fan of the show wrote: ‘watching eastenders last night was so heartbreaking…poor chantelleBroken heart rip angel Baby angel’. 

‘How great was #EastEnders last night? Absolutely incredible acting as always, but extremely sad known the outcome for Chantelle. @bbceastenders have always been the best for raising awareness of such horrific real life situations!’, another added. 

If you have been affected by this story, you can call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline 0808 2000 247. 

Horrifying: Fans praised Chantelle for her powerful monologue she said just before her untimely death

Horrifying: Fans praised Chantelle for her powerful monologue she said just before her untimely death