EastEnders have confirmed that Brian Conley is leaving the soap after three years.

The actor, 62, has played Thomas ‘Rocky’ Cotton since May 2021 but is now moving on to new projects. 

The BBC told in a statement on Wednesday that they supported his decision and denied claims of a feud and that he had demanded to be written out of the show.

Brian also took to his Instagram grid to confirm the news and further refuted claims there had been disagreements.

The Sun had claimed on Tuesday night that BBC bosses were ‘furious’ he was leaving as they had planned important storylines around his character.

EastEnders said in a statement: ‘We can confirm that Brian Conley will be leaving EastEnders. 

‘There is absolutely no truth in any claims of a feud with bosses and the show fully support Brian in his decision to leave which was made some time ago. 

‘We wish him the best of luck for the future as we continue to work towards his exit storyline which has been in the works for some time.’ 

Meanwhile Brian said in a social media video: ‘Hi it’s me Brian, AKA Rocky from EastEnders. I am just sending out this message to all the fans. You may have heard reports that I am leaving.

‘It was a tough decision but it is true that I am going, I made it for many reasons that decision. It was tough as they are such a wonderful crowd in front and behind the cameras and I have loved my three years there.

‘That is the truth. There are reports that I clashed and that I was ranting, but I’m not ranting. I have gone with their blessings the Beeb and I am excited about the future and where it’s going to go and I am excited about Rocky’s exit because it’s good!

‘So I am sending you much love to all EastEnders fans and enough said!’ 

It comes after in June Brian revealed he could be facing the chop in this year’s Christmas cliff-hanger.

The actor told host Steph McGovern Steph’s Packed Lunch that the BBC1 soap is planning to film a number of different endings for this year’s Christmas Day episode to keep viewers guessing.

He said: ‘In February we had a lovely episode where if flashed forward to Christmas, and someone’s dead in The Vic and Letitia is there in a wedding dress and she’s covered in blood.

‘So everyone’s going, ‘O my God, who’s dead?’, as well as all the actors in the show, and all you saw was it’s a male, or is it, I don’t know.

‘You just saw the cufflinks and I think everyone has been looking out for those cufflinks for a while now.’

Asked by Steph if the cast knew who the victim was Brain replied: ‘None of us have got a clue. 

‘I believe leading up to Christmas, there might be ten of us laying there so that it will be a big surprise to us as well.

‘We’re all going to maybe film a moment where we’re all laying on the floor and then right up until the last minute they can reveal on Christmas Day who it is.’

Asked if he was worried about potentially being killed off, Brian said: ‘You’re in an ongoing drama so you know people do pass away and you do live on tenterhooks, especially if you’re enjoying it, and we all are, they’re a lovely bunch, everyone there.

‘I’m very happy to be there and I just think what we’re doing now and the fact that it’s the number one soap is very exciting.’

Conley has been the host of The Brian Conley Show, as well as presenting the Royal Variety Performance on eight occasions. 

Brian Cox has claimed his character was written out of Succession too soon, with the star saying he took it as a form of rejection.

The actor, 76, played Logan Roy in HBO drama and Brian insists the decision to kill Logan off in the third episode of the fourth and final series of the show was ‘ultimately too early’.

While Brian admits Logan’s end was done ‘in a pretty brilliant way’, he added he took it ‘wrongly, as a form of rejection’.

Speaking on BBC Two’s Amol Rajan Interviews, Brian said: ‘I was fine with it ultimately, but I did feel a little bit rejected. 

‘You know, I felt a little bit, oh, all the work I’ve done and finally I’m going to, you know, end up as an ear on a carpet of a plane.’

Brian told how he filmed several funeral scenes more than a year and a half ago and was told he was no longer needed to film false scenes of Logan service.

Show bosses had planned to film were planning to film false scenes so paparazzi would not suspect it was Logan who had died.

Despite being told he would not be required, Brian went ‘on [his] own volition’ to the location where the funeral was being filmed.

And Brian thinks Logan could actually still be alive, with the star telling Amol: ‘I still believe this, maybe Logan isn’t dead.

‘This could be part of an elaborate ruse to find out. Well, if you think about it, from Logan’s point of view, he has to find out, how are his children going to behave when he dies, what will then happen? 

‘And the only way to do that is to fake his death and actually, at some distant point he’s observing the chaos that is following.’

When asked if he is saying Logan does in fact come back from the dead, Brian respnded: ‘No […] I’m just saying that could have been a supposition.’

It comes after Succession fans descended into a frenzy after learning Sunday’s blockbuster funeral episode featured a surprise cameo.

The penultimate episode of the HBO series saw Logan Roy’s family come together to attend his funeral following his death six episodes earlier.

Among those in attendance were many of Logan’s former mistresses, also sat in a row ready to pay their respects.

Fans were quick to notice that one of the mistresses was being played by star Brian Cox’s real wife Nicole Ansari-Cox.

In the episode, Nicole took on the role of Sally-Ann, who was introduced by Lady Caroline (Harriet Walter).

The apt cameo of Brian’s real-life spouse as one of his many exes sent fans into a frenzy, with many flooding social media with their reactions.

One tweeted: ‘OMG so Sally-Anne *is* Brian Cox’s real wife!’ while another added: ‘The fact they snuck Brian Cox’ real life wife into #Succession as one of his side pieces is brilliant.’

One added: ‘I am actually obsessed that they got Nicole Ansari (Brian Cox’s wife) to play Sally-Anne.’ 

‘Brian Cox’s real life wife playing Sally-Anne had me screaming,’ one fan added.

In the penultimate episode of Succession, Season Four Episode Nine saw the stars of the show convene for Logan’s funeral.

Sunday’s much-anticipated series finale will finally bring an answer to the burning question: Who will land Logan’s vast fortune?

Earlier this year, Brian revealed he and wife Nicole renewed their wedding vows in a surprise Vegas ceremony.

Speaking on Live With Kelly and Ryan, the actor revealed: ‘We’d actually been apart for a while — she’d been traveling — and then we sat down and we said, ‘Where do we go from here? Do we finish or do we go on? And we thought, ”Well let’s go on and get married”.’

Across social media, users lauded James Cromwell’s magnificent performance as Ewan, and the cold, hard truths he laid out in his eulogy to Logan.

‘That speech Ewan gave at Logan’s funeral,’ one user said. ‘Chills. James Cromwell is a master at his craft. The fact that he did that performance while going through long-COVID is extraordinary. Wonderfully written by Jesse Armstrong.’

Another used said, ‘The Roy sibs aside, let no one neglect the magnificent one-speech performance of James Cromwell as Logan’s brother killing him a second time in his funeral speech,’ adding that ‘the writing also was mind-wrecking.’

One user said that Ewan’s speech was ‘one of the BEST scenes in all of Succession,’ while another said that Cromwell ‘DOMINATED that scene, and it was clear that everyone (especially the kids) got to know more about Logan in death than they ever did in life.’

Said one user: ‘Logan’s brother, Ewan (played by James Cromwell) humanized Logan, telling of the abuse he suffered as a child. But he did not excuse his behavior as an adult. He gave the full measure of the man.’

The full interview, Brian Cox: Amol Rajan Interviews, is on BBC Two on Thursday 25th May at 7pm and BBC iPlayer.

Succession’s final episode will air on HBO on Sunday. It will air on Sky Atlantic in the UK on Monday.