Brian Conley has paid tribute to his EastEnders character Tom “Rocky” Cotton after his surprise exit from the soap.
Actor Brian, 62, shared a picture of himself on the set of the BBC series on Twitter on Saturday after Rocky's final scenes aired in Friday's episode.
Rocky was reported to the police by his estranged wife Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) and arrested for arson endangering life after he was involved in burning down their Walford cafe.
His arrest came after six matriarchs of Alber Square; Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), Suki Kaur Panesar (Balvinder Sopal), Linda Carter (Kellie Bright), Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), Denise Fox (Diane Parish) and Kathy tried to close their tracks after the murder of Keanu Taylor on Christmas Day Blur (Danny Walters).
Paying tribute to his character, Brian wrote: “Well Rocky, you've pretended to be Sonia's dad, had two heart attacks, married Kathy Beale, met the King of England, your best mate is Harry Redknapp, you've got this Blown up cafe and had a…” pet parrot named Jasper. I'll miss you, you old rascal. X.'
Brian Conley has paid tribute to his EastEnders character Tom “Rocky” Cotton after his surprise exit from the soap
Rocky was reported to the police by his wife Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) and arrested for arson, endangering his life after burning down their cafe
As a tribute to his character, Brian shared some heartfelt words on social media after starring on the soap since May 2021
After drunkenly stumbling around the square on Christmas Day, Rocky witnessed some of the moves some of the six matriarchs took after Keanu was murdered.
Keanu was stabbed in the back by Linda as she tried to stop him from strangling Sharon in the Queen Vic pub after she called off their wedding earlier in the day and he found out he was not the father of Albie, his son thought he had shared it with Sharon and that Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) was Albie's real parent.
As his Boxing Day hangover wore off and he began to piece together his memories of the night before, Rocky remembered seeing Stacey and Denise carrying a tarp into the pub and seeing Sharon in her wedding dress outside Saw a café standing there.
He realized that Kathy would have been one of the few people who could have let Sharon into the burnt out cafe and that she could get into trouble after the recent events in Walford and the resulting police operations in Albert Square.
When Rocky refused to stop asking Kathy questions, the other matriarchs encouraged her to report him to the police and send him to prison for his involvement in the cafe fire.
When she saw that he had been searching for insurance claims on his laptop the day before the fire, Kathy turned his computer in to the police and he was arrested.
Rocky was questioned by police after those involved in the murder of Keanu Taylor planned to get him out of Walford because he knew too much about the aftermath of the murder
Fans were touched by his surprise departure on Friday and hailed it as the “end of an era”.
They took to Twitter to share their thoughts on saying goodbye to Rocky.
One person wrote: “Rocky's departure marks the end of an era as there are no more members of the Cotton family on the court.”
Another shared: “I just realized that was actually Rocky's last scene!” Honestly, a pretty pathetic farewell for him. Even though he wasn't one of the strongest characters, Rocky was a lovable character and Brian Conley did a great job.”
“I'm actually pretty sad if tonight were Rocky's last episode. Honestly, it's a bit of a stupid ending to his story. I know a lot of people hated the character but I found him quite charismatic and Brian Conley played the role really well to be fair,” wrote a third.
Someone else added: “Brian Conley did something I never thought possible and made Rocky a character I will really miss.” “Brian and Gilly T were an inspired couple,”
Another asked: “Was that the end of Rocky back then!?” “I'm going to miss him and I can't believe I'm saying this but I've really grown to love him over the last year.”
Several fans took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their thoughts on Rocky's farewell on Friday
Someone else added: “Brian Conley did something I never thought possible and made Rocky a character I will really miss.” “Brian and Gilly T were an inspired couple,”
Another asked: “Was that the end of Rocky back then!?” “I'm going to miss him and I can't believe I'm saying this but I've really grown to love him over the last year.”
Brian left EastEnders after BBC bosses banned the cast from taking part in lucrative pantomimes next year.
The actor and comedian has been playing Rocky in the BBC One soap since May 2021, but decided to leave the show after bosses asked him to choose between panto and filming the soap's 40th anniversary celebrations.
A TV insider told The Sun: “Often in celebratory milestone years like the 40th anniversary, bosses need to have all the cast available so they can shape the storyline appropriately through December and beyond to guarantee audiences that level of drama. “
“There is a real buzz around the anniversary and plans are already in place to bring audiences some explosive storylines.”
Six of Walford's matriarchs; Stacey Slater, Suki Kaur Panesar, Linda Carter, Sharon Watts, Denise Fox and Kathy Beale were involved in a series of events that led to Keanu's death
In addition to Keanu and Nish, several men were teased as potential victims before Christmas, including Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), Tom “Rocky” Cotton (Brian Conley) and Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo). and Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara).
“February filming usually takes place before Christmas. For those wanting to do a five-week filming run, this would mean the show would not be able to accommodate them in their anniversary-related plans.”
A spokeswoman for the show said in September: “As Brian Conley stated earlier this week, EastEnders fully supports Brian's decision to leave at the end of his contract and we wish him all the best for the future.”
“The EastEnders cast take part in the panto every year, but in the run-up to our 40th anniversary, all cast members have been asked to get involved in the storyline.”
“We have not received any complaints. In fact, everyone supported the plan.”