AN EastEnders star has ‘given away’ they’re quitting the soap – according to eagle-eyed fans.
Viewers of the long-running BBC soap are gearing up for its explosive 40th anniversary.
As part of the celebrations, bosses are airing a special live episode on Thursday, February 20.
But ahead of the milestone week, fans have noticed how James Bye has removed mention of the show from his Instagram.
The actor, 40, who plays Martin Fowler, previously included the soap in the bio of his official page.
Eagle-eyed spotted the change, with James opting for his management details and family Instagram account now.
They’re convinced it’s a huge clue he’s the Walford resident set to die in the tragic blaze.
During the show fans will watch as the iconic Queen Vic is blown apart in an explosion.
Flooding Reddit with theories, one EastEnders fan said: “It can mean nothing, but usually it means something when an actor does that!”
A second wrote: “How are people still not convinced? The 3 people who are closest to Martin are all leaving, there are flowers by his stall, he’s constantly been talking about his legacy, he celebrated his 40th birthday last year by mistake, and now this.”
“Killing off THE legacy child is crazy, even worse than Denny,” a third fan posted.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”EastEnders theme tune over the years ” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6368190215112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]While a fourth commented: “If they do kill him off that would be an even more monumentally stupid idea than killing off Denny, and his removing EE can only mean this was not his choice.”
James, 40, has played fruit stall trader Martin since the character’s role was recast in 2014.
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D105867%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]James Alexandrou previously played the role from 1996 until 2007.
EastEnders continues on BBC One and iPlayer.
[boxout headline=”EastEnders’ 40th anniversary cameos so far” featured-image=”32590325″ intro=”With the 40th anniversary of EastEnders coming up, fans are looking forward to some more incredible cameos from iconic faces of Walford’s past. But who have we had so far? “]Tracy-Ann Oberman – Oberman returned as Chrissie Watts, a character she last played nearly two decades ago.
Paul Bradley – Bradley returned as Nigel Bates, a character he last played over 25 years ago.
Micheal French – French returned as David Wicks, a character he last played two decades ago.
Patsy Palmer – Palmer returned as Bianca Jackson, a character she last played in 2019.
Ricky Groves – Groves returned as Garry Hobbs, a character who has not been seen since 2009.
Cliff Parisi – Parisi returned as Minty Peterson, a character who was last seen on the square in 2010.
Ross Kemp – Kemp has returned to play Grant Mitchell, a character he first played in 1990. The BBC has described Kemp’s storyline as “explosive”. Kemp said it was an “absolute honour” to return to the show.
Other aspects of the EastEnders 40th anniversary celebration include: A wedding between fan favorites, A huge explosion at the Queen Vic, and A live interactive episode.