AIBU for snapping at my friend over endless EastEnders talk?

[PeachesComeFromACan]

I have a friend who has a tendency to go on and on about the TV programs she watches. Lately the worst one has been eastenders. She rattles on about every story line, every character, recites lines etc etc and I don’t know who any of the characters are as I don’t watch it!

Last time we met up I swear to god she went on and on about that weeks eastenders for almost an hour. I kept trying to change the subject, kept deliberately acting bored etc etc … she doesn’t notice

She messaged this morning asking if I fancied meeting up and I was reluctant as I’m in a bit of an unstable mood anyway and after the hour long transcript last time I didn’t know if I could deal with it but she suggested she was feeling a bit down and I’m a sucker so went.

Got to coffee shop, literally as soon as I sat down she asked if I’d watched eastenders this week. I said “nope, I’ve told you I don’t watch it” so she said “ok you have a lot to catch up on …” she then started on about it so I said “let me stop you there, I don’t watch it so I have no idea who you’re on about”. So she started trying to explain who is who and I just snapped and said “I don’t care! I don’t watch it! I have no interest in it! I did try to tell you this last time!”

long story short she went really quiet, we cut the meeting short and I’ve not heard from her since. She’s not replied to my text either which is unusual.

I was out of order wasn’t I? 🤦‍♀️😞 just wish I’d never agreed to go today

I zone out when friends start talking about people I don’t know, let alone a soap!
If I asked someone if they’ve watched a programme and they said no then that’s the end of that conversation unless I am recommending it to them.
I agree with others, she’s either lonely, old (my MIL did this re Eastenders a lot), or ND (special interest).

YANBU. This would wind me up too. I had a friend who was so involved with soap story lines they started to cross into real life. One day I said to her “Are you ok you seem a bit down” and she said “I am a bit I can’t help thinking about Cathy’s diagnosis” (or whatever the name was). And I asked “who’s Cathy?” Thinking she meant a friend… turned out to be a soap story line!

She’s still not replied. I’ve just sent her a message saying I’m sorry if I seemed a bit off yesterday, was having a bit of a bad day 😬 just wish I’d handled it better but how else do you tell someone you’re not interested in what they’re talking about 🤦‍♀️ I simply couldn’t sit there listening to it any longer. Last time I tried to introduce new topics, asked how her new job was going, asked if she had plans for summer, even tried asking her what she thought of Andy Burnham 😂 every single time she gave a quick answer and went back to eastenders

You weren't out of order at all. You have tried to hint and she has ignored, so you had to be blunt. She is talking at you not with you. That's an energy drain worthy of Colin the Vampire in What We Do In the Shadows.

She sounds draining and I say that as an Eastenders fan myself. I never discuss it with anyone ( only on the mumsnet threads , but that is different)
I can understand why you feel like you do.

"Whoah - Spoiler ! I might've wanted to watch that"

Knowing that you won't .