Brian Conley has confirmed that he is leaving his role as Rocky Cotton on EastEnders after almost three years.
A report in The Sun alleged that the 62-year-old had infuriated producers by telling them that he wanted to quit as soon as possible, supposedly causing a swathe of scripts to be rewritten.
Now Conley has taken to Instagram to confirm that he is leaving Walford but insisted that there is no bad blood between any of the parties involved.
"Hello lovely people, it's me, Brian Conley, aka Rocky from EastEnders," he said in the video. "Sending out this message, especially to all the EastEnders fans. Now, you may have heard reports that I'm leaving EastEnders and it was a tough decision but it is true... I am going.
"I made it for many reasons, this decision, and it's tough because they're such a wonderful crowd. In front of the cameras and behind the cameras, I've loved my three years there. So that's the truth in the reports! There's other parts of the reports saying that I 'clashed' with TV bosses and the crew. I didn't 'clash' with anyone, I didn't have a rant.
"I've gone with their blessings at the BBC, I'm excited about the future and where it's going to go. I'm also excited about Rocky's exit... as I know it's good! So I'm sending you much love, all the EastEnders fans, and yeah... enough said!"
A BBC spokesperson said: "We can confirm that Brian Conley will be leaving EastEnders.
"There is absolutely no truth in any claims of a feud with bosses and the show fully support Brian in his decision to leave which was made some time ago.
"We wish him the best of luck for the future as we continue to work towards his exit storyline which has been in the works for some time."
Rocky's exit is expected to play out on screen at the end of this year.
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