Brian Conley quit EastEnders for one reason after bosses stopped huge deal (2025)

Brian Conley returned to EastEnders on Thursday making an unexpected appearance before Sonia Fowler walked away from Albert Square in heartbreaking scenes

Brian Conley was part of some the biggest storylines during his time on EastEnders but quit for one simple reason. Throughout his time on the show, he found his character, Rocky Cotton, embroiled in a gambling addiction which saw his personal life spiral out of control.

Not to mention he married Kathy Beale with his addiction also costing him his marriage. It was during the infamous Christmas episode that saw Keanu Taylor murdered when Rocky witnessed Taylor's body being dragged across to Kathy's cafe. Having witnessed The Six take the lifeless body over the road, he didn't stop when questioning the women involved, including Kathy.

Kathy was left with no option but to report Rocky to the police for starting the fire in her cafe as part of an insurance scam, which resulted in him being carted off to prison – confirming his exit from the soap. But a year on, he's returned to the soap as part of Sonia Fowler's exit storyline.

Rocky previously claimed that he was Sonia's long lost dad which eventually turned out to be a scam he'd cottoned up with Dotty Cotton, the granddaughter of Dot Cotton. But Sonia and Rocky eventually buried the hatched and became close. But why did he leave?

Brian had been asked to take part in a huge pantomime, playing the role of Buttons in Cinderella and was given a six-figure salary for the role. However, bosses behind the soap gave him the choice of panto, or carry on as Rocky. Appearing on Good Morning Britain he explained his exit.

Host Susanna Reid said of Brian's character Rocky being in prison: "You haven't been in EastEnders for six months, because you're in prison of course, there's a release date at some stage! You could go back... But you've said actually it's probably too much?!"

He said: "I left because you're not allowed to do anything else. Although I've now found out you can but at the time they said you can't do anything and I'm a live performer. I love being live, I love getting out there. Musicals, my own show, which I'm currently doing, and so for me I felt very restricted with those."

Host Ed Balls then quipped: "You're not keen on Rocky getting an early release then?" to which Brian admitted: "He might do, or you know, or I can make an escape! You just don't know about these things but it is an amazing show."

At the time of joining the soap, the actor commented: "Being a Londoner and now being part of EastEnders is such an incredible moment for me. I know for sure my dad's looking down from above and saying 'Good on yer son!'

"It really is an honour to be part of such an iconic show and to be working with an incredibly talented team, on camera and off." Taking to social media after his final scenes aired, the actor shared a picture of himself as Rocky, writing: "Well Rocky, you pretended to be Sonia's Dad, Had two heart attacks, Married Kathy Beale, Met the King of England, Your best mate's with Harry Redknapp, You blew up the cafe, and had a pet parrot called Jasper. Gonna miss you, you old rascal. X."

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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