Casualty star George Rainsford has revealed why he left the BBC show earlier this year in a new interview.
George, who played Ethan Hardy, was loved by fans during his one-year stint - and it's safe to say they were sad to see him go.
But for the actor, personal reasons had to come above continuing the show, as he explained to The Express.
"There were just a few factors, I was living away from home for a long period and I also was missing doing other sorts of acting roles," he told The Express.
On whether he would return to the BBC show, George said, “I spoke to [the producers] about an extended break. As yet, there's no return date planned, but I think the door is open."
George Rainsford's Casualty exit aired on Saturday, February 4, 2023 and he has since gone on to star in the stage adaptation of Peter James’ crime novella Wish You Were Dead.
In the BBC show, Ethan departed the ED and packed in his job as a doctor so that he could spend more time with his family - a case of art imitating life in this instance.
George previously told WhatToWatch about the highs and lows of leaving the show, explaining, "I’ll miss the people. 100%.
"The cast and crew are so talented and fun to be around. But I’m happy not to do those long days in Resus for a while!
"We film them over a couple of days and there’s a lot of tricky medical prosthetics and the medical jargon is like a foreign language. We all go a bit doolally!”
George also shared the fun details of his leaving party last year, telling us, “Yes, and it coincided with Casualty’s summer break in August, so it was a joint ‘Summer and See you later, Ethan’ party.
"The cast made videos, there were a few speeches, and William Beck [AKA Dylan Keogh] DJ-ed! I’m a ‘90s kid, so I requested a bit of a rave up and Will was really up for it. It was a hot day, we were all out on the terrace, and it was just lovely.”
Casualty is on (most!) Saturdays on BBC One. The latest episodes are available on BBC iPlayer.
