EastEnders star Danny Dyer has admitted finding his exit storyline "odd", after asking bosses to kill off his character Mick Carter.
His character appeared to die on Christmas Day last year, after a showdown with new wife Janine Butcher led to tragedy.
After Janine had driven Mick's ex-wife Linda Carter into the sea, Mick went in to save her but seemingly got into difficulty.
He is now presumed dead and lost at sea, while no body has been found.
Danny has now spoken out about the plot, revealing one of the reasons why he left the show - and his thoughts on his exit storyline.
Speaking to The Times, the actor explained how he would have liked his character to bow out of the soap, and why bosses were against it.
Danny spilled: "I felt that to go on a journey with Mick, who doesn’t open up properly to anyone, and feels shame and all that stuff, to have it end tragically, that would have opened debate and got the nation talking."
Mick had battled with depression and contemplated taking his own life two years earlier on the soap, after it emerged he had been sexually abused as a child.
His abuser, Katy, fell pregnant with his child and Mick was introduced to her in 2020 when the whole truth came out.
Danny wanted to explore a mental health storyline again to encourage men to speak out, and wanted Mick to take his own life.
Show bosses didn't want to go ahead with the plot as they said it would "trigger" viewers, and instead they chose a dramatic showdown to see the character bow out.
Danny also addressed whether Mick could return some day, but admitted he found his exit scenes "odd".
He said: "Anything is possible. Where would he have gone to? He can’t swim. I found it a bit odd."
On his decision to leave the show after nine years, he added: "One reason I left EastEnders was because I wasn’t around enough. You’ve got to try and get in there early with your holiday, because otherwise they give you a holiday in February, and who wants to go on holiday in February?”
It comes amid a huge new storyline for Mick's wife Linda Carter, as another big Christmas Day death is being lined up.
Viewers were shown a surprise flashforward clip on Monday, which confirmed a Christmas Day murder set to air this year.
Stacey Slater, Denise Fox, Suki Panesar, Kathy Beale, Sharon Watts and Linda were seen in shock as a mystery man laid dead on the floor.
With several of them injured or covered in blood, and one even holding a possible weapon, it's been teased one of the women are the killer.
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
