EastEnders actress Kellie Bright has addressed whether she will be leaving the BBC soap following her co-star Danny Dyer's upcoming departure at Christmas.
After nine years on Albert Square, Mick Carter will be leaving in an explosive - but sad - storyline that will leave fans on the edge of their seats.
Having first joined Walford alongside Danny as beloved couple Mick and Linda with their adult children back in 2013, some fans have considered whether Kellie could follow in his footsteps and leave the Square.
"I don't think I'm done yet," she told the Mirror on the TV Choice Awards red carpet. "I've always said while I'm happy and I'm enjoying the work - the work matters to me, I'm not someone who just turns up - I'm not that sort of person.
"I've honestly had such a good time with it and I'm hoping that will continue and as long as it does I'm really happy to stay there. I really care about the show and when it's good it's really good. It's totally getting its rhythm back and I have complete faith in Chris Clenshaw."
Teasing what fans could expect from the festive episodes, Kellie said: "We've only just finished filming Christmas, so I've only just finished working with him, so at the moment it doesn't feel that unusual because obviously we weren't together all the time anyway. I still speak to him most days! So it doesn't feel too bad at the moment but it will obviously be different.
"I'm quite excited about what it might be like for Linda now. Obviously she's going to be sad for a little while because she's there without him but it's like having a blank canvas, this new chapter for her, and I honestly don't know what they've got in store for her.
"We came in as a four, initially, then we became a five, but Danny and I were at the heart of that family and I think that even though we haven't been together in the show for the last year, there would always be a Mick and Linda thing while Mick was there... so Linda is just Linda. I don't know what that's going to bring - I'm quite excited!"
Asked how she would describe the Christmas episodes, she immediately replied: "Explosive. I actually think the Christmas episodes are really strong, we've got a fantastic team. I really do think they've pulled out all the stops and obviously for me - personally - it's Danny's exit from the show and I want to make it brilliant for that, because of him.
"So I feel like everyone involved in it has pulled out all the stops, poured their heart and soul into it. I think it's got a bit of everything. Obviously we're not the only ones in those episodes so I think it does what you want a Christmas episode of EastEnders to do. It's got kind of everything in there and then going through the week as well... I actually really love Boxing Day as an episode as well."
*EastEnders airs Mondays - Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One
