EastEnders star quits after five years in shock announcement
EASTENDERS star Clay Milner Russell has quit the soap after five years.
The actor - who plays Bobby Beale in the BBC soap - is walking away in the hopes of tackling meaty new roles away from Walford, The Sun can exclusively reveal.
Clay, 24, is the fifth actor to play killer kid Bobby having taken over from Eliot Carrington in 2019.
Viewers have seen Clay’s version of Bobby return to Walford after a spell in a young offenders institute after he killed his sister Lucy Beale.
Since returning to Walford Bobby has converted to Islam, suffered a breakdown while seeing visions of his murdered sister and has had a tense reunion with Lucy’s mother Cindy Beale.
The character is now in a relationship with his step-sister Anna Knight after Anna slept with his best friend Freddie Slater.
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However after years in the Square, actor Clay has now decided to leave the soap to pursue other roles.
A source 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 door is being left open but for now it’s a definite goodbye.”
An EastEnders spokeswoman confirmed the news saying: “We can confirm that Clay will be leaving EastEnders later on this year, and we wish him the best for the future.”
An 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.”
EastEnders recently said goodbye to actor Max Bowden after he was axed from his role as Ben Mitchell.
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Ben was arrested for fraud that he committed in America and was extradited for a six year prison sentence.
Actress Shona McGarty will also soon leave having quit her role as Whitney Dean.