{"id":900005,"date":"2026-10-30T14:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T14:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/900005\/"},"modified":"2026-10-30T14:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T14:54:10","slug":"eastenders-icon-lacey-turner-reveals-how-character-death-contributed-to-stacey-slater-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/900005\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders icon Lacey Turner reveals how character death contributed to Stacey Slater exit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lacey Turner has revealed why she chose to leave EastEnders<\/a> in her new autobiography Gold Dust.<\/a><\/p>\n

The actress took a break<\/a> from her Stacey Slater role, with the character heading off to Brazil with her children to work in brother Sean’s (Robert Kazinsky) bar.<\/p>\n

“It’s the break that Stacey needs,” Turner said in an interview with the BBC at the time. “She’s been through so much and losing Martin has been so hard for her. Walking past his stall everyday is too much. Brazil seems far, but I guess that’s what she needs.”<\/p>\n

The departure has allowed Turner to explore new projects \u2013 including a current stint in the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom<\/a> alongside professional dancer Vito Coppola.<\/p>\n

Now, upon the release of Gold Dust: My Life (So Far) with the Women Who Shaped Me, she’s detailed the reasoning behind her Albert Square exit and explains that it stemmed from news that co-star James Bye would be bowing out during the soap opera’s 40th anniversary celebrations.<\/p>\n

\"James<\/p>\n

James Bye as Martin Fowler and Lacey Turner as Stacey Slater.\u00a0BBC\/Jack Barnes<\/p>\n

Following an explosion at The Queen Victoria, his alter ego Martin Fowler died from crush syndrome.<\/p>\n

In an excerpt from the audiobook of her life story, Turner reveals: \u201cWhen bosses told me they were going to kill off Martin Fowler in the 40th anniversary episode in 2025, I needed Steve McFadden\u2019s advice about making whatever is on the page work more than ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a decision I found hard to fathom, and to be completely honest, one I\u2019m still not over. I kept on asking \u2018why\u2019, because it made no sense to me. Surely there was another way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019d made their minds up and it was no good,” she continues, after added that she’d tried to explore other avenues with the drama’s producers.<\/p>\n

\"Lacey<\/p>\n

Gold Dust has been released.\u00a0Viking Penguin<\/p>\n

“He was to be crushed to death after an explosion in the Queen Vic.”<\/p>\n

Turner added that she only found out about Martin’s death in advance because she’d fallen pregnant, and her due date was “scarily close” to the live episode that was planned to mark the milestone. She agreed to return just two weeks after giving birth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI promised them I\u2019d be there, even if it was in my maternity dressing gown,” she laughs.<\/p>\n

“What I couldn\u2019t be sure of was how Stacey would survive in Walford without Martin.<\/p>\n

“And I didn\u2019t know how I\u2019d survive there without James. I started to wonder if now might be the right time for me to step away too.<\/p>\n

\"Lacey<\/p>\n

Will Stacey ever return?\u00a0BBC\/Jack Barnes\/Kieron McCarron<\/p>\n

\u201cI was about to have a baby, James was going, and Natalie Cassidy was also leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds: \u201cThe more I thought about it, the more I realised I needed some real time out and I loved the idea of taking my foot off the gas and being with my family for a while. So I told them I wanted to go too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs promised I made it back for the live episode just four weeks after giving birth and then stayed on to shoot Stacey\u2019s mental health decline.”<\/p>\n

But will Stacey ever return? There’s certainly the option now that Sean has come back from Brazil.<\/a><\/p>\n

“I miss Stacey of course I do, but she was tired and she needed a break. And I did as well,” Turner comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019d run out of things to go through. There\u2019s only so much s**t one person can suffer before you think it\u2019s time to stop. I don\u2019t know what the future holds\u2026 I hope it\u2019s not the end for Stacey.\u201d<\/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":"Lacey Turner has revealed why she chose to leave EastEnders in her new autobiography Gold Dust. The actress…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":900006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[88,92],"class_list":["post-900005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=900005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/900006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=900005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=900005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=900005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}