EastEnders star in dramatically sudden exit - and they've already left the show

ok.co.uk:

The BBC have confirmed that Matt Di Angelo, who plays Dean Wicks on EastEnders, is leaving the soap and has already finished filming his final scenes.

In a message on social media, a spokesperson for the series wrote: “Farewell to the marvellous Matt Di Angelo AKA devious Dean Wicks.

From all the cast and crew at EastEnders...Thank you, you'll be missed!" Executive producer Chris Clenshaw also posted a video to wish Matt well. “I just wanted to say a huge thank you to Matt for giving us one of the most vile characters, one of the most hated characters in Britain and on British TV.Thank you for coming back and playing out this next chapter of Dean's story." Matt joined the soap as Shirley Carter’s son Dean – originally known as Deano – in 2006 and his character was described by the BBC as “cocky, charismatic, with an eye for the ladies and doesn't see anyone as out of his league.” He was in the series for two years before Dean left for Australia in 2008, and then he returned in 2014, opening a local salon called Blades.

It was during his second stint in Walford that Dean raped Linda Carter, a storyline that Matt described at the time as “an extremely challenging storyline to play but an incredibly important story to tell." Despite eventually being charged with the crime, Dean was acquitted due to lack of evidence and once again left Albert Square.