Danny Dyer will return to EastEnders in "weeks not months", a BBC source has said.
The actor, who plays pub landlord Mick Carter, is currently taking a break from filming the BBC One soap, following reports he had been suffering from exhaustion.
A soap insider told the Press Association that fans of the programme can expect to see Dyer back soon.
The reasons behind Dyer's time off screen are also expected to become clearer as his character's storyline progresses.
A BBC spokesperson denied reports that he had fallen out with the show's producers.
A statement said: "Danny is on a short break from EastEnders. This was not enforced by bosses nor has he quit the show."
His character recently rekindled a possible affair with his daughter-in-law Whitney (played by Shona McGarty), who he kissed last year and again earlier this year after Albert Square's horrific bus crash.
His on-screen wife Linda (Kellie Bright) is currently away from Walford, visiting her mum in Spain. Off screen the actress has been on maternity leave, after giving birth to her second child in November last year.
Dyer recently hit headlines when he discovered he was related to royalty during an episode of BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?.
He discovered that William the Conqueror, Edward III and Thomas Cromwell were among his ancestors.