EastEnders star Clay Milner Russell is set to leave the BBC soap after five years on the show, it has been revealed.
The 24-year-old actor who plays Bobby Beale is set to leave EastEnders to pursue other acting roles, The Sun revealed.
Milner Russell is the fifth actor to play Bobby having taken over from Eliot Carrington in 2019.
During his time EastEnders the character has been involved in some major storylines including killing his own sister - Lucy Beale and nearly dying himself after being caught in a fire at Kathy's café.
Romantically, Bobby is currently in a relationship with his step-sister Anna Knight despite her sleeping with his best friend Freddie Slater (Bobby Brazier).
Clay Milner Russell to leave EastEnders after five years
But now, after five years on the BBC soap, Milner Russell is set to leave EastEnders later this year as he looks to take on other acting roles.
A TV insider, speaking to The Sun, said: "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 insider added: “Clay is a young actor so he wants to use these years to try his hand at other roles.
“He absolutely loves working on EastEnders and has made such great friends on the show so it was really difficult for him to make that decision, but having been a part of the show since 2019, he now feels like the time is right to explore other options.”
While Milner Russell is set to leave the show in 2024, the TV insider revealed "the door is being left open" for a possible return to EastEnders for Bobby in the future.
RECOMMENDED READING:
- EastEnders fans convinced show legend will return after new clues emerge
- Danny Dyer reveals the real reason he left EastEnders
- Bobby Brazier opens up about his future on EastEnders after Strictly Come Dancing
The news of Milner Russell's departure from the BBC soap has been confirmed by EastEnders.
An EastEnders spokesperson said: “We can confirm that Clay will be leaving EastEnders later on this year, and we wish him the best for the future.”
You can watch EastEnders Monday to Thursday each week on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 7.30pm.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel