EastEnders star, Harry Reid, has spoken out about his upcoming exit as Ben Mitchell for the first time since the shock news was announced – and admits he didn’t see it coming.
Speaking on today’s Sunday Brunch, fan favourite Harry dropped the bombshell when host, Tim Lovejoy, asked him if he saw the departure coming.
Read more: Ben Mitchell to KILL James Willmott-Brown after finding out Luke is his son?
Harry said: “No, I didn’t.
“I don’t really think there would be any signs that point towards it, you can possibly get something out of the story, but in terms of [Ben’s] mindset, it’s quite a sudden thing.
“So, as an actor, I didn’t see that build up coming, but it’s exciting me.”
Harry also commented on the petition fans had started to keep him on the show, calling it ‘nice.’
He also spoke out about the pressures of playing a character in a long-running show, saying it’s like having a second life. He told viewers that he’s loved every second of his time on the BBC One soap.
But one thing Harry wouldn’t talk about was how Ben would be leaving our screens, not revealing if he was being killed off.
“I know,” he admitted, “I’m not gonna say anything, mainly because I want the fans to be excited and question what’s going to happen.
“It is exciting. Ben’s life is exciting and it won’t let you down, I promise you that.”
It’s expected that Ben will bid goodbye to Walford before the end of the year and Harry revealed that he’s already filmed his final scenes.
He added: “It’s been very hard.
“I think there’s an actor’s emotion that comes into play here.
“Obviously, it being long running, I’ve worked with these people for a long time and when you’re doing final moments, it can become quite ceremonial.”
It was announced that Harry was being written out of the show last month.
A spokesperson for EastEnders told Digital Spy: “We can confirm that Harry will be leaving EastEnders.
“Harry has been a great addition to the cast and we wish him all the best for the future.”
We were left pretty stunned by the news, and weren’t alone. Ben fans were horrified and started online petitions to keep Harry in the show.
We won’t lie, we’re still pretty much in denial about Harry leaving, and what will Jay do without Ben?
Read more: Shock exit announced for EastEnders star
One thing we know is, as a major part of the Mitchell family, there won’t be a low-key exit for this boy.