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EASTENDERS star Lorraine Stanley has revealed she is planning to leave London so her young daughter doesn't grow up in a city plagued by knife crimes and gang violence.
The actress - who plays Karen Taylor in the BBC One soap - takes centre stage this week as her son survives a stabbing that claims the life of his best friend Shakil Kazemi, in a storyline designed to highlight the horrors of knife crime.
But the long-planned storyline has come at a time when for the first time in history the city has overtaken New York with 64 murder investigations being launched by the Met Police so far this year.
Concerned mum Lorraine exclusively told The Sun Online's Soap Bubble that she will "definitely" leave London before her young daughter is a teenager.
She said: "I do live in London and you know what, I've got a young daughter and already I am starting to worry about things.
"She's only two and a half and I'm already worrying about what things will be like when she's a teenager. I definitely won't be in London."
The BBC One soap was rocked this week as Shakil was murdered and Keegan Baker was knifed in hard-hitting scenes.
Lorraine is full of praise for the show tackling such an important and sensitive subject, saying: "I read it off the storyline and I was like wow.
"I was impressed that EastEnders are doing such an important storyline. It's so relevant at the moment, it's everywhere. Everyday it's on the news what's happening. It's every mother's worst nightmare.
"I think it's time we've done a storyline like this."
But she is keen to point out that the epidemic of knife crime in particular isn't exclusive to London.
Lorraine, who is nominated for best newcomer at this year's British Soap Awards, added: "But it's not just London, I'm from Portsmouth originally and in the last few months there have been a couple of stabbings down there.
"That used to be just a fist fight when I was growing up but now people are pulling out knives over a fight, over money, over drugs.. just little things that we would have a punch up over.
"It's tragic. The families lose out, no-one wins."
She added: "I think what EastEnders is great at doing is it's a big platform for a lot of people and a lot of youngsters watch, so if it changes one person, if one person thinks, 'I'm not going to take that knife', it's got to be a good thing.
"What EastEnders does well is the aftermath... in the papers if you read a story about some kid who's been stabbed then you cry and you think it's awful but you don't read much more.
"In EastEnders you will see the aftermath, how it affects families and the community and I think that's where it's important. That's why we're doing it."
In the show Karen's heartbreaking reaction played out as she discovered her son in the hospital after his stabbing but Lorraine revealed Karen's worries are only just beginning.
"She's worried about whether he's going to seek revenge, whether the gang's going to seek revenge," she teased.
Viewers will have to watch to see the drama play out on screen and to see whether the gang will be brought to justice.
Meanwhile in real life, Lorraine is nominated for her first soap award this year.
Speaking about her nomination for best newcomer at this year's British Soap Awards, Lorraine said: "It feels quite exciting, it's nice to be appreciated it and makes me feel like I've done something right in life."
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Sienna Blake must have the worst luck in all of soapland.
First her dead daughter pops back from death to reveal she hadn't actually died in the fire, then she stabs her, then she has to fake her own death to catch said returned-from-the-dead daughter, but that only brings out both Nico and her vengeful ex Warren Fox.
But instead of a tearfully happy reunion with a re-alive Sienna, Warren used Nico's rage at her mother to kidnap baby Sebastian and flee.
Now Sienna's lost her two babies but gained her psychotic serial killer-cum-product-of-twincest daughter Nico living in her back bedroom.
But Warren's brief return to take Sebastian was a triumph of evil, to remind everyone that no matter how bad Sienna gets, she's never as bad as Warren.
This came as quite a shock to Emmerdale fans today as they discovered Mike Parr would be leaving the show.
The actor, who plays Ross Barton, is fed up with his storylines and has told pals that he might even quit acting altogether.
One of Mike’s major gripes is the horrendous burn make-up he has to have applied daily after his character was involved in an acid attack.
A show source said: “Mike has told anyone who will listen how much he hated his storylines and what bosses had done with his character.
“He particularly hated the make-up he had to wear for the acid attack storyline. He’s been fed up for ages and has finally told bosses he’s off.”
Stephanie Davis will return to Hollyoaks as her character Sinead O'Connor is given a "fresh start".
The actress played "feisty" Sinead on the Channel 4 soap from September 2010 until her contract was terminated in July 2015 after she arrived on set "unfit for work because of alcohol consumption".
Since she lost her job on the soap, Steph has gone on to appear on Celebrity Big Brother but acting roles were hard to come by.
But now she's been given a second chance and the 25-year-old actress has said she's "so excited" to be picking up at where she left off when she returns to the show in August.
There's going to be another dramatic week in Coronation Street when Pat Phelan returns to Weatherfield with revenge on his mind.
The killer builder will be kidnapped by Gary Windass and tortured before gaining the upper hand and taking hostages at the Bistro while at least two shootings will rock the cobbles by the time he has finished.
Meanwhile, Michelle Connor and ex Steve McDonald kiss on her wedding day after Robert Preston is accused of cheating on her and Rosie Webster will take revenge on her drug dealing ex-boyfriend.
Josh Tucker will be arrested for raping David Platt after David finds the courage to report him, and there's set to be an emotionally head-hitting scene as David tells his mum Gail what happened to him.
It will be enough for Gail to call alleged psychic Rosemary Piper back to the street to get rid of the Curse of Richard Hillman once and for all.
Over in Emmerdale Charity Dingle's secret son is revealed to her girlfriend Vanessa Woodfield in tragic circumstances, and Chas faces heartache with her pregnancy when the sonogropher spots something concerning.
Cain Dingle is out for blood after this week's shock shooting, and there's more family drama with Brenda and Bob as she uses the twins against him to try to destroy his life.
Schoolgirl Amelia Spencer will also learn the truth about Dan not being her biological father after a furious row.
In EastEnders, Walford is rocked by the news of Shakil Kazemi's murder as his dad Umar and brother Darius arrive to support Carmel.
There's a robbery at E20 after Hunter Owen sneaks Louise Mitchell and Bex Fowler into the club for a celebration of their murdered friend's life, and Kat Slater reunites with ex Alfie Moon after vicious blackmail from Hayley.
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