The relationship between Patrick (Rudolph Walker) and Yolande Trueman (Angela Wynter) comes under pressure after cracks emerge in next week’s EastEnders.

Walford icons Patrick and Yolande have weathered much over the course of their decades-long romance, first tying the knot during a small ceremony in 2004.

The pair split in 2008, after Yolande was offered a job in Birmingham – leaving behind Patrick, who was reluctant to walk away from his home in Walford.

The pair subsequently finalised their divorce, but were unable to let each other go. After an affair in 2023, Patrick realised that Yolande was his one true love, and beseeched her to stay on Albert Square with him.

Since then, Yolande and Patrick have had to contend with her sexual assault at the hands of Pastor Clayton (Howard Saddler), as a devastated Patrick attempted to remain supportive and by her side throughout.

However, they were both left profoundly changed by the experience – not to mention Clayton’s decision to take his own life when confronted with the consequences – and their relationship continues to reckon with the aftermath to this day.

As the week begins, Yolande feels hurt when Patrick makes excuses to get out of giving her a massage.

Later, Yolande opens up to Denise about the state of her relationship with Patrick. She tells her how she fears that things will never be the same between them again.

Torn, Denise tries to support Yolande and Patrick through their relationship crisis.

With Yolande questioning their future, Patrick fights for her by making a grand gesture.

But will it work?

Yolande first arrived in Walford in 2003, having met Patrick while he was on holiday in Trinidad.

Yolande left her husband at the time, Victor Duke, for Patrick – with Patrick even turning down a £10,000 offer from Victor to end their affair and return his wife to Trinidad.

Ten months after her arrival on Albert Square, she and Patrick were married, and managed several businesses together – including The Minute Mart and Bed and Breakfast.

Their marriage hit the rocks in 2008, when she accepted a job without him in Birmingham, and their divorce was finalised a year later.

Yolande briefly returned to the soap in 2017, paying a visit to Patrick as he celebrated his birthday.

By 2023, the pair were having a fully-fledged affair behind her new partner Anton’s back. Realising that Yolande was his one true love, Patrick fought for Yolande, and managed to convince her to return home.

Patrick and Yolande are one of EastEnders’ most beloved soap couples, and the warmth of that relationship extends behind the scenes, to actors Rudolph and Angela.

Of her screen partnership with Rudolph, Angela said:  ‘I feel very comfortable with Rudolph – he’s my brother, my friend, my uncle, he’s everybody!

‘There’s a bit of every relative I have in him. We’ve known each other for so many years.

‘I played his maid first when I was a young girl in a play, then I played his daughter in a TV movie, and then I came to play his girlfriend and then wife at EastEnders.

‘It’s a long relationship of love and respect, and I could play any character with him. There is a deep friendship between us; we trust each other and have each other’s back. It’s all very natural with him.’

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