EastEnders will see a collection of stars both leave and return to the hit BBC one soap in upcoming episodes. It's been an explosive few months on the soap following the dramatic The Six Christmas storyline and it appears things are only going to get more explosive in the next few episodes. With dramatic exits on the way, legend returns and new characters, here's the stars leaving and returning in upcoming episodes this year.
.. Who is leaving EastEnders? Clay Milner Russell has quit his role as Bobby Beale on BBC soap EastEnders .
During his time on the show, Bobby has been in some huge storylines including the death of his sister Lucy Beale. More recently, he was caught up in a fire at Kathy's café, where he nearly died when Rocky tampered with the electrics to try and get money from the insurance for his gambling addiction. He has also been involved in a romance storyline with Anna Knight - but the pair nearly didn't go the distance when his best friend Freddie Slater ( Bobby Brazier ) slept with Anna - there has since been a love triangle between the trio.
"Clay’s a talented actor and he’s ambitious. He was never going to stay in EastEnders forever. He’s loved playing Bobby but he became an actor to play all kinds of roles and he wants to do that.
The door is being left open but for now it’s a definite goodbye," a source told The Sun of Clay's decision to depart the role earlier this year, which he has held for half a decade. "Clay is a young actor so he wants to.