01 January 2024 , 10:42
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EastEnders star Brian Conley has broken his silence after his character Rocky Cotton was arrested and bid an emotional goodbye on Friday night's episode.
It was revealed earlier this year in September that the actor, 62, had quit the hit BBC One soap after first joining two years ago in 2021 and on Friday night his character's exit storyline was revealed. In shocking scenes on Christmas Day, Keanu Taylor was killed by Linda Carter when he attempted to strangle Sharon Watts after she refused to let him see Albie. Earlier in the day, Sharon had called the wedding off, having learned that Keanu was a part of the kidnapping plot for Albie.
As a result, Sharon revealed to Keanu that Albie wasn't his son, before Phil Mitchell heard the truth - that he was the biological dad to Albie. It led to a big confrontation when Keanu headed to the Queen Vic and as he strangled Sharon, Linda stepped in to save her. Prior to this, The Six had knocked out Nish Panesar, who had attempted to attack wife Suki, and they have blamed Nish's serious head injury on Keanu, claiming he has gone on the run.
EastEnders star Brian Conley has broken his silence after his character Rocky Cotton was arrested and bid an emotional goodbye on Friday night's episode (BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)On Tuesday's episode, The Six decided to bury the body after dragging it across the Square in a sheet of tarpaulin, hiding it in the derelict café following the fire. The Six thought their secret was safe until Rocky, who had attempted to go in the pub on Christmas Day before passing out drunk in Albert Square, dropped a bombshell on Wednesday night.
Rocky told estranged partner Kathy Beale: "Kath, I remember what happened and what I saw last night. It was Sharon, I saw Sharon, I think she must be helping Keanu, she was stood outside the café, in her wedding dress, then she went in! Why would she do that, I think she's hiding something in there, I'm going to find out!"
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On Thursday, Rocky was unable to get in the café but arranged to see Kathy again, where he said he had a 'gut feeling' she was in 'trouble' as he kept grilling her. Things then went from bad to worse when Ian Beale arrived home, revealing someone had taken a sheet of tarpaulin from his skip.
This jogged Rocky's memory as he said: "Ian talking about tarpaulin, jogged my memory. You and Sharon outside the café, that is weird, but why was Stacey and Denise carrying a bit of tarpaulin across the Square?"
Later, a panicked Kathy met with The Six to tell them what had happened and it wasn't long until Suki had a suggestion. Soap watchers will recall that Rocky recently staged a fire at his wife Kathy's café as he continued to struggle with debt problems due to his gambling addiction.
Kathy Beale and Rocky shared an emotional goodbye (BBC)Thursday's episode ended with Suki saying that arson is a life sentence so if they shopped Rocky to the police for the café fire, he will be more worried about himself in prison than piecing together what happened on Christmas Day. Kathy was horrified at the suggestion, saying: "You're asking me to send my husband to prison, for life?"
On Friday night, Rocky continued to try and piece together Christmas Day, where he attempted to grill Stacey. This resulted in Denise and Kathy looking for evidence to report Rocky to the police, where they found the day before the fire he had been browsing insurance payouts which were still on his search history.
Later, Rocky was arrested in dramatic scenes at the Queen Vic for criminal damage by fire, where life was endangered. Rocky blamed Ian Beale for the arrest, thinking it was him who alerted the police. After the arrest, Kathy pulled strings to see him at the station.
Kathy encouraged Rocky to not fight this, claiming it can't be hanging over them anymore. The duo then shared an emotional goodbye, where Kathy promised to wait for him on the outside and insisted she couldn't say farewell properly, leaving the duo in tears. The episode ended with Rocky sobbing.
It remained unknown whether this was Rocky's final scene or if there would be more to come but actor Brian has now seemingly confirmed this is the end for his character. Taking to social media after the episode aired, the actor shared a picture of himself as Rocky, writing: "Well Rocky, you pretended to be Sonia’s Dad, Had two heart attacks, Married Kathy Beale, Met the King of England, Your best mate’s with Harry Redknapp, You blew up the cafe, and had a pet parrot called Jasper. Gonna miss you, you old rascal. X."
Fans were quick to react as one wrote: "Loved you in Eastenders, gutted you've left. BRING BACK THE BRIAN CONLEY SHOW!!!", a different account put: "Phenomenal actor your gunna be missed by so many of us ee fans all the best Brian" while another added: "You were great in EastEnders! All the best for the future Brian!"
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.*Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on , , , , and .
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