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EastEnders Star Kellie Bright to Leave After 13 Years

Published 13:20 9 Aug 2026 BST

Updated 11:41 9 Aug 2026 BST

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EastEnders Star Kellie Bright to Leave After 13 Years

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EastEnders Star Kellie Bright to Leave After 13 Years

EastEnders star Kellie Bright is leaving the BBC soap after 13 years, telling fans "it is now the right time for me to say goodbye." The actress, 50, has played glamorous Queen Vic landlady Linda Carter since December 2013, becoming one of the best-loved characters in Albert Square.

Bright revealed she actually made the decision over a year ago, but agreed to stay on after producers Kate Oates and Ben Wadey asked her to be part of a storyline they had planned. Her character Linda – wife of Mick Carter, played by Danny Dyer – has been at the centre of some of the show’s biggest plots, and currently runs a bed and breakfast alongside her mother Elaine Peacock.

EastEnders has been my home for 13 years and I have absolutely loved being part of the show, but I have decided that it is now the right time for me to say goodbye.

Executive producer Ben Wadey paid tribute, saying Bright had been "at the beating heart of EastEnders" and had "cemented her as a classic EastEnders icon."

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