The following article contains spoilers from an episode of Emmerdale that hasn’t aired on ITV1 yet, but is available to view on ITVX.

Brenda Walker (Lesley Dunlop) and Cathy Hope (Gabrielle Dowling) have left the Emmerdale village for a cruise.

A few days ago, Brenda realised she had won a competition in a magazine. It was a three month world cruise…but she didn’t want to go.

Present for the conversation was Nicola King (Nicola Wheeler). As soon as Brenda said she wasn’t keen, Nicola decided that meant she could go with Jimmy (Nick Miles).

Eventually though, Brenda changed her mind and announced that she’d be taking one ticket.

With one more up for grabs, determined Nicola still believed she could go alongside her pal.

The thought of spending three months with Nicola filled Brenda with dread though, so she decided to give the other ticket to Cathy.

In tonight’s episode, Brenda arrived in the shop to get a few more bits before she departed. She then learnt Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell) had suffered a fall, which made her feel worried about leaving him.

Brenda told Eric that if he needs her to stay, she will. Full of pride and love for his ex, Eric was never going to say yes to her offer, even though it broke his heart.

He told her to go on the cruise, because other people in the village will look after him.

Just as the episode drew to a close, Cathy and Brenda said their final and emotional farewells. Even though they are only going on a holiday, it will last for three months, so it wasn’t surprising the goodbyes were difficult.

With that, the two characters left the village, marking an end to Lesley Dunlop’s time on the show after 16 years, and Gabrielle Dowling’s, who has played Cathy since 2007.