EastEnders’ Brian Conley hints ‘big name’ will be killed off in explosive Christmas episode that’ll ‘blow fans away’
EASTENDERS star Brian Conley has dropped a huge hint that a “big name” will killed in the Christmas special.
The legendary actor and TV presenter, 62, said the festive special will “blow fans away” and leave them speechless.
BBC One viewers were stunned when the upcoming plot was teased in a spine-chilling flashforward scene in February, 2023.
Brian – who plays lovable Rocky Cotton on the BBC soap – teased that a huge long-standing character will be bumped off.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Brian said: “I think what’s clever at the NTAs is that they’ve given a lot of the guys the cufflinks to wear, so we’re all wearing these specific cufflinks which of course a dead body is found in The Vic and the only thing we know is the cufflinks.
“None of us know who it is, we all have our suspicions.
“I do know certain things, filming at the moment is pretty much coming up to Christmas, we’re at the end of November.
“All I know is that it’s going to be very exciting and it’s going to literally blow everyone away.”
Taking about the murder victim, Brian continued: “All I know is, is that it has to be someone with weight, you can’t have someone that’s only been there a week.
“The fact that we’ve known since February that someone is about to die at Christmas, I think it will have to be someone who’s been in it for a while.”
When asked if the unlucky Albert Square resident is someone who has been in the soap for a long time, Brian added: “I can only assume that it is, that’s my theory on it.
“I think the audience would be cheated if that wasn’t the case but I think whatever happens it’s going to be really exciting.”
He added: “I think what’s really exciting is us finding out at Christmas who that body is.”
Brian hopes it won’t be his character getting the chop after finally tying the knot with Kathy Beale earlier this year, played by soap favourite Gillian Taylforth.
But it looks like Rocky won’t be the one who meets his fatal end later this year, with Brian confirming that he plans to stay on the soap for a lot longer.
“I got married to Kathy, this global icon, Kathy Beale and I tied the knot in the summer and that was a wonderful honour,” Brian said.
Speaking about his future on the show, Brian continued: “I would like to stay [on EastEnders] for as long as I can.
“I haven’t really got to work on the cockney accent and it really has come at the right point in my life – so I feel very happy there and I just love behind-the-camera and in front, I love everyone there.
“I’m very happy where I am at the moment and doing four shows a week is quite enough.”
Opening up about working with legend Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale, Brian was full of praise for his fellow co-star.
He told us on the NTAs red carpet: “He’s [Adam Woodyatt] a legend in itself, the man’s been there right from the off, yes he’s been away for a couple of years and he’s come back now and it was nice to be in his presence.
“This is a man who has been there forever and is so established as Ian Beale.”
Brian also praised his Walford co-stars including Steve McFadden and Perry Fenwick among many others.
“I think everyone is great, Steve and Perry are legends.
“You learn so much, I’ve been there three years now just watching these others and they’re such an amazing class, I love them all.
“I’ll be upset to see Lorraine Stanley go because as an actress and a person, she’s just lovely, she really is.”
This scene included six of Albert Square’s most beloved ladies, with one of them being soap legend Sharon Watts (played by Letitia Dean).
The blonde bombshell was seen wearing a sumptuous wedding dress as she crouched over the body of an unnamed dead man next to the Vic’s Christmas tree.
An unknown victim, the man was shown sporting a suit and cufflinks, the only touch of individuality that could lead fans to figure out who he is ahead of time.
However, soap bosses decided to make it harder for fans, after ten different male actors wore the cufflinks to the National Television Awards on Tuesday, as a nod to the storyline.
Ian Beale star Adam himself also spoke about the cufflinks while questioned about his return to our screens as the iconic businessman.
“Now that he is back, he needs to avoid Sharon cooking carbonara and his mum getting him cufflinks for Christmas”, he said.
Yet a handful of fans are convinced he could be the dead body found in the Vic due to his connection with Cindy Beale aka Rose Knight.
The Beale patriarch was added onto the list of potential victims alongside Nish Panesar, Keanu Taylor, Dean Wicks, Ryan Malloy, Phil Mitchell, George Knight and Ravi Gulati.