EastEnders fans heartbroken over Jacqueline Jossa’s emotional exit

It's the end of an era.

Jacqueline Jossa exited EastEnders on Friday night as Lauren Branning's final scenes aired in the wake of Abi's funeral. But fans were left floored - and a bit crushed - when Lauren decided to ditch her boyfriend Josh Hemmings, and headed off on her own instead. The Branning family have faced a rocky few months after Max's involvement with Weyland and Co was exposed. During dramatic scenes on Christmas Day, both Abi and Lauren fell from the Queen Vic - with the younger Branning sister sadly passing away due to her injuries. While Max was ordered to stay away from he service (he spent some time with Abi's baby daughter instead), he did get to say his own farewell after the service ended. He also shared an emotional moment with Lauren, who told him that she needed to leave Walford to focus on a future for herself and her son, Louie. She ended up scrapping her plans to go to Glasgow and start anew with her boyfriend Josh and, instead, she and Louie walked off after the funeral. Fans took to social media after the episode to pay tribute to the actress. https://twitter.com/TonyaMcMullan/status/964611090716950530 https://twitter.com/magiczackey/status/964603907275182080 https://twitter.com/meglove2406/status/964603912694231040 https://twitter.com/Jamesmeehan_/status/964605944029155328 https://twitter.com/Bex_WithAnX/status/964606226230374403 It was announced last year that both Jacqueline Jossa and her on-screen sister, Lorna Fitzgerald, were going to be written out of the soap as part of a "major shakeup".