EastEnders’ Kellie Bright opens up on Linda Carter hitting the bottle once again, as she tells viewers to prepare to “see the very worst version of Linda” this week

Can Linda sink any further? EastEnders’ troubled Linda Carter hits the bottle again and faces some tough love when friends fear she has reached rock bottom.

Walford’s Linda Carter has been through tough times over the past two years, starting with losing her husband Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) on Christmas Day when he jumped off a cliff. Then, last Christmas, Linda killed Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters), and faced her rapist Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) in court after framing him for the gruesome murder. With secrets unravelling and unable to hold her nerve any longer, Linda has relapsed and turned back to the bottle with devastating consequences for everyone living in Walford.

“Linda’s so deep into her alcoholism that she’s unaware of the damage she is causing,” sighs actress Kellie Bright, 48, who plays her. “It’s not registering with her in those moments. I think Linda may wake up with paranoia and think ‘What did I do?’ and the only way to quieten those thoughts is to have another drink. Sadly, I don’t think she’s conscious of what’s happening.”

The person most affected by Linda’s drinking is her nine-year-old son, Ollie Carter (Harry Farr). And Linda’s eldest son, Johnny Carter (Charlie Suff), is devastated when Ollie tells him disturbing details of Linda’s drunken behaviour. To make matters worse, under the influence, Linda slings some punters out of The Vic in front of Ollie. Johnny confronts Linda about the impact of her drinking on her youngest kids, Ollie and her daughter Annie. But Kellie admits that sadly, Linda doesn’t “care”. She adds, “Linda thinks she can hide it most of the time and people don’t realise, when clearly, they obviously do!

“When Johnny confronts her about Ollie not wanting to be around her, Linda just can’t go there. She doesn’t want to hear it and what’s happening to her is always someone else’s fault, so Linda turns it all back on Johnny. She becomes like a child and he’s the adult. “Linda can’t look at herself, so she turns everything outward, and won’t acknowledge she’s got a problem. In her head, she is justifying it by believing that everything she does is right and everything Johnny does is wrong.”

Frustrated Johnny turns his back on Linda, so she seeks out another ally, her good friend and member of The Six, Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean). But Sharon has promised to help Johnny get Linda back on the straight and narrow by giving her some tough love – something Linda doesn’t react well to.

“This has gone on for so long and people have given Linda so many chances, but what we see this week is that everyone has had enough,” explains Kellie. “They are saying, ‘no more’ and ‘we are not going to sit by and let you drink yourself stupid’. Terrible things happen because she’s drinking, and it pushes everybody away. So she finds more and more doors closing in her face.”

Unfortunately, Sharon’s attempt at a wake-up call fails to work and Linda heads across Albert Square to the Minute Mart where she demands more vodka, but Alfie Moon (Shane Richie), refuses to serve her. “Alfie is someone who Linda has been close to in the past, but he can hardly bear to look at her,” says Kellie. “You’ll see the very worst version of Linda on screen this week. She’s so awful and says such horrible things to people that she’s getting more and more isolated. She is mentally detaching herself from the people that care about her.”

Matters only get worse for Linda when it becomes clear that Sharon’s house has been robbed as a result of Linda leaving the door open. “The first Linda knows about it is when Alfie comes in looking for Sharon because he’s noticed her door is ajar and is concerned,” adds Kellie. “He discovers the carnage and then asks Linda, ‘What on earth are you doing?’ It’s yet another thing and I do think in that moment, Linda feels pretty awful as she knows she’s really messed up.”

There’s a moment of hope when Johnny manages to get Linda to agree to try and ditch the booze, but this is interrupted when Linda’s mum, Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) returns home from honeymoon. Elaine can’t believe the depths her daughter has sunk to in a matter of weeks, and decides she will get Linda off the vodka, but it’s not an easy task.

“When Elaine comes back, she realises she has to take drastic action,” says Kellie. “She needs to get Linda help because she can’t carry on like this. So, she gives Linda an ultimatum.” Will Linda sink even lower as the second anniversary of her husband’s death approaches? Or can she turn her life around?