Patsy Palmer has penned an emotional post following the exit of her co-star James Bye from EastEnders, saying he "will be missed so much by everyone".
Bye's character Martin Fowler died of cardiac arrest after he and Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) confessed their love to each other and became engaged during the explosive live episode - as the Queen Vic crumbled around them.
The most beautiful words. #EastEnders #EE40 #EELive pic.twitter.com/tUUSroMszI
— BBC EastEnders (@bbceastenders) February 20, 2025
Martin, born in August 1985 in the first year the BBC soap was broadcast, had been played by several actors before Bye took over the role in 2014.
His character died on Thursday after being trapped by a beam as the show celebrated its 40th anniversary.
On Instagram, Palmer, who plays Bianca Jackson, wrote that she wants "to say you will be missed so much by everyone but you will go on to be the leading man that you deserve to be".
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"Your performance was amazing tonight and just gorgeous for all the years as Martin Fowler," she added.
Palmer also said "for the rest of you and you all know who you are, I think you are all such a beautiful bunch of actors and friends".
She also congratulated the director and writer of the live episode.
Palmer wrote: "I can honestly say hand on heart that I loved every second of tonight.
"Doing a live episode of Eastenders again after so many years was spectacular. I loved how we had the comedy too amongst so much heartbreak. It was a beautiful mix of emotions."
The live episode saw the results of viewers' votes on storylines, including who Denise Fox (Diane Parish) picked to be with and the name of Sonia Fowler's (Natalie Cassidy) baby.
Denise reunited with her estranged husband Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) and Martin's ex-wife Sonia welcomed Julia, named after EastEnders co-creator Julia Smith, after giving birth in the rubble of the Queen Vic.
Sonia's villainous former partner Reiss Colwell (Jonny Freeman) died in Wednesday's episode. The killer was crushed by a bathtub after he fell over in a confrontation with Bianca - who he had previously kidnapped.
The previous EastEnders live episode was broadcast on the 25th anniversary in 2010 and revealed Stacey had killed Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb).
Martin's father Arthur, played by Bill Treacher, appeared in the first scene of the first EastEnders episode on 19 February 1985, when he broke into elderly neighbour Reg Cox's house with Den Watts (Leslie Grantham) and Ali Osman (Nejdet Salih) after becoming concerned about his welfare.
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Bye said: "It's an honour to leave on a story of this magnitude. A huge thank you to all the fans of the show, EastEnders wouldn't be what it is without you, and to the BBC and EastEnders team for trusting me with this role for so many years.
"This fruit and veg man will always hold a special place in my heart. It's time to look forward, and I'm incredibly excited for what the future holds."
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Source: Press Association
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