{"id":622643,"date":"2026-09-12T17:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T17:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/622643\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T17:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T17:38:11","slug":"eastenders-kellie-bright-addresses-exit-decision-as-linda-carter-bows-out-after-13-years-and-talks-max-romance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/622643\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders’ Kellie Bright addresses exit decision as Linda Carter bows out after 13 years – and talks Max romance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kellie Bright has discussed her decision to quit EastEnders<\/a> and also her character Linda Carter’s romance with Max Branning.<\/p>\n

Last month, it was confirmed that the actress will depart from the role of former Queen Vic landlady Linda in 2027 after 13 years<\/a> with the show.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Radio Times<\/a> at the National Television Awards 2026<\/a>, Bright discussed deciding to leave the BBC soap behind.<\/p>\n

Bright revealed: “\u200aIt was a very natural decision, is what I would say. It took a long time. It wasn’t a decision I made overnight. I’m very, very grateful to have been part of the show for as long as I have. I feel really blessed to have been able to play Linda Carter for all these years, and I am just ready and looking forward to new exciting adventures.”<\/p>\n

Of course, it’s not a quiet time for Linda. The former pub landlady has finally found love again – however, it is with a longtime ladies’ man – and the person she once cheated on her husband, Mick Carter (Danny Dyer), with – Max Branning.<\/p>\n

\"Kellie<\/p>\n

Kellie Bright poses in the studio during the National Television Awards 2026 at The O2 Arena on September 08, 2026 in London, England.\u00a0Shane Anthony Sinclair\/Getty Images for The NTA’s<\/p>\n

When asked if she expected Max to turn out to be Linda’s next true love<\/a>, Kellie responded: “Do you know what? I gave up trying to guess storylines a long time ago, because I have learnt from experience that you never know.<\/p>\n

“I honestly thought I was the last person that was in the frame for killing Keanu – and I was wrong about that. So since then I’m like, anything goes. Who knows?”<\/p>\n

When pressed on whether she would like to see Linda end up happy with Max after everything, Bright seemed uncertain.<\/p>\n

\u200a”I think they have a real connection, Max and Linda,” noted Bright. “And they obviously have a child together.<\/p>\n

“But Max Branning’s Max Branning, isn’t he? And I protect my Linda. You know? So who knows? We’ll see.”<\/p>\n

\"Kellie<\/p>\n

Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) in the flash-forward episode from New Year’s Day.\u00a0BBC\/Jack Barnes\/Kieron McCarron<\/p>\n

The last week ended with Max and Linda in a tentative relationship following the collapse of his short-lived marriage to Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins)<\/a> and the exposure of his affair with Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy), who, unbeknownst to him, is pregnant with his child<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yet, in a final twist of the week, Max was the last person to see Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) alive<\/a> as he accosted the dying Slater to stay quiet about him and Linda.<\/p>\n

Will Linda end up the bride on New Year’s Day 2027<\/a>? As Bright notes, we’ll have to wait and see.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n

Visit our dedicated EastEnders<\/a> page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers.<\/p>\n

Add EastEnders to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app<\/a> \u2013 download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.<\/p>\n

Check out more of our Soaps<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide <\/a>to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kellie Bright has discussed her decision to quit EastEnders and also her character Linda Carter’s romance with Max…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,282],"class_list":["post-622643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}