EastEnders’ Yolande breaks silence on harrowing sexual assault by Pastor Clayton in special double episode with Patrick
AFTER suffering a horrifying sexual assault at the hands of Pastor Clayton, soap bosses have revealed that Yolande Trueman is finally ready to open up about her experience.
The church-going woman was left traumatised when her minister touched her inappropriately during a food bank fundraiser.
A devastated and tearful Yolande told her friend Elaine about the attack, but couldn’t bring herself to break the news to her husband Patrick.
However, he started to notice something was wrong with her when she began to question her faith.
She went on to have a few seemingly random outbursts at other church members, and even risked burning the house down when she forgot the hob was on while obsessively praying to forget what had been done to her.
Now producers have shared that she will tell him what is really bothering her in a double episode that will air on May 7.
Her uncharacteristic behaviour has been worrying Patrick for weeks, which even resulted in family members encouraging Yolande to seek professional help from a doctor.
Once he finally knows the truth of her sexual assault he will finally understand why she has seemed so troubled.
However, it will also set the couple on the difficult journey of figuring out how to process the attack.
Executive Producer Chris Clenshaw told EastEnders fans: “When you have a story that deserves time and space to explore, and you have talent like Angela Wynter and Rudoph Walker, it felt only right to produce an EastEnders two-hander episode.
“This conversation is the most difficult that Yolande and Patrick will ever have, and an episode dedicated to them gives us a chance to tell this story truthfully and authentically.
“I’m in awe of the performances Angela and Rudolph have given and they’ve handled such a challenging and sensitive subject matter.”
Yolande has been torn over whether to report the Pastor to the police, and it’s possible that opening up to her partner about the crime will give her the confidence to come forward to local authorities.
After Clayton assaulted Yolande the soap also showed clips of previous victims.
If Yolande reports him, her confession could inspire other women in the church to come forward.
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