Ben Hardy, who plays Peter Beale in EastEnders, revealed that last night’s live episode was his last day on the BBC1 soap.
In the follow-up programme EastEnders: Backstage Live, the actor said that although he was leaving it’s not the last we see of Peter. With the show recorded weeks in advance, Ben has filmed his final scenes, but he remained tight-lipped when asked how the fruit-and-veg seller would be leaving the Square.
However, Ben did say that the revelation that Bobby had killed Lucy would have a “major impact on Peter”. He added that he would miss his character too.
The aftermath programme also showed how Ben, who joined the soap in June 2013, was earlier presented with an Albert Square street sign that had been signed by the rest of the cast. His co-star, Timothy West, who plays terminally-ill Stan Carter, received the same gift as it was his last day on set, too.
Later in the show, viewers were given a teaser of what’s to come in EastEnders.
It showed Peter asking Lauren to leave the Square for New Zealand, Ian and Jane receiving a visit from hard-as-nails cop DI Keeble and Stan asking Cora to marry him on his hospital bed,
Earlier in the programme, the soap hunk told presenter Zoe Ball that he was told who had killed Lucy before Christmas.
“I’m so relieved it's out there,” he said.
