EastEnders' Mick Carter exit will be "explosive" and "sad", says Kellie Bright

EastEnders star Kellie Bright has teased the soap's upcoming Christmas episodes, revealing that Danny Dyer's exit will be "sad" but "explosive".

Dyer, who joined EastEnders as Mick Carter in 2013, announced at the start of the year that he was leaving the show after nine years.

Speaking to The Mirror, Kellie Bright – who plays Mick's estranged wife Linda – revealed that filming on the Christmas episode had just wrapped.

"I've only just finished working with [Dyer], so at the moment it doesn't feel that unusual because obviously we weren't together all the time anyway," she said. "I still speak to him most days! So it doesn't feel too bad at the moment but it will obviously be different."

Bright added that she's "quite excited" to see how life will be for Linda after Mick's departure, saying: "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."

Teasing Dyer's final episode, she added: "Well, Kellie [herself] was really sad. We all know that when you're watching a TV programme and one of your favourite characters goes, you're just gutted. So I expect that there will be a little bit of that. But I'm excited for him as a friend!"

She went on to describe the Christmas episode as "explosive", adding that the soap has "pulled out all the stops".

"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."

It hasn't been an easy decade for Mick and Linda Carter, who recently split after former alcoholic Linda relapsed and had an affair with Max Branning (Jake Wood), conceiving a baby daughter.

However, fans knew that Mick's current partner Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks) was behind the break-up, encouraging Linda to turn back to drink.

Dyer's on-screen daughter Rose Ayling-Ellis left the role of Frankie Lewis earlier this year and told RadioTimes.com that she was "really happy with [her] exit" from the show.

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