EastEnders casts Doctors legend Bharti Patel in Harvey Monroe loneliness story

Patel arrives on-screen in EastEnders next week in a guest role as Maya Houssain, an unexpected new friend of Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman).

Next week, Harvey will be seen feeling lonely - not surprising following the departures of best friends Mitch Baker (Roger Griffiths) and Tom "Rocky" Cotton (Brian Conley).

Harvey's partner Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) will encourage him to try making some new friends.

As the week continues, Harvey unexpectedly bumps into a woman named Maya and offers to take her cab fare and help her. The pair then form a connection over being huge fans of football team Tottenham Hotspur.

Later in the week, the pair will bond even more over their love of the beautiful game and it seems they each have made a new friend.

However, is Maya merely a new friend for Harvey or is there more to her than meets the eye? And how will Jean and the Slaters react to Harvey's new friendship?

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