Outgoing ‘EastEnders’ star Aaron Sidwell has opened up about the secret pain behind his current storyline.
Fans have seen his character fake a brain tumour diagnosis in recent weeks, in an attempt to get girlfriend Lauren to stay with him.
After announcing the plot would lead to his exit from Walford in the coming months, Aaron alluded to something in his personal life that had made the storyline especially challenging - something which he addressed during an appearance on Friday’s (11 August) ‘Lorraine’.
Aaron revealed to guest host Christine Lampard that a close friend of his jad died after battling a brain tumour just a week ago.
The father-of-two said: “It wasn’t easy. He’s such a young man with two beautiful girls, just a couple of years younger than mine.
“To have lost his battle, it was very tough personally, but this is what we do.
“You can’t always do the stories you want to do, and this was given to me and I had to run with it.”
He continued: “I always had Jacqueline [Jossa, his co-star] so was able to talk to her the entire time. We have a very close family life as well as close [work] one, so I had her the whole time.”
In a statement he posted on Twitter shortly after it was announced he was leaving the soap, Aaron said: “Whilst my storyline has been incredibly challenging given my personal situation, this has not lead to me quitting the show in protest.
“Challenges are what strengthen us and I want to thank the story team and writers for giving me one.”
It has since been revealed that Aaron has already bagged his first post-‘EastEnders’ role, as he’s set to tour the UK in a new production of ‘Wicked’, as the male lead, Fiyero.
The news of his soap exit comes after some of the younger members of the ‘EastEnders’ cast inadvertently let the cat out of the bag about an upcoming exit, with a rather clumsy social media post.
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