EastEnders star Nicholas Bailey has broken his silence over Anthony Trueman’s death as he made a ‘bittersweet’ admission.

Fans of the BBC soap were delighted to see Anthony returning to the streets of Walford earlier in the year. Anthony had not been seen in Walford since making a brief appearance after his dad Patrick Trueman suffered a stroke in 2014.

First debuting in Walford in 2000, Anthony was involved in a number of major storylines, including his love triangle with Kat and Zoe Slater. Anthony cheated on Zoe, who he was engaged to, with her mum in one of the soap’s more controversial storylines.

Anthony initially said goodbye to Albert Square in 2003, after he accidentally caused the death of a pregnant patient and decided to go travelling. Fans have seen him make brief returns every now and then in the ensuing years.

However, this all changed in August when he decided to return on a permanent basis ahead of his dad and Yolande’s wedding. Upon his arrival, Anthony was shocked to learn that Patrick was in hospital following an attack.

Once it was cleared up that Osar Branning didn’t mean to hurt Patrick and was trying to get money to pay off thugs, Anthony began to focus on Zoe, with Michelle Ryan returning to soap on a permanent basis for the first time since 2005 in September.

Things appeared to be off with the character, with it revealed that he and his wife had a restraining order against him and he kept lots of photos of Zoe on his laptop. Anthony soon learned that not only was he the father of Zoe’s twins, but their daughter was the mysterious Jasmine.

Sadly, Christmas Day saw Anthony die in odd circumstances, bringing an end to the character’s journey. After getting into a fight with Zoe where he hit his head, Anthony was discovered dead by Kat.

Speaking about his time on EastEnders coming to an end, Nicholas said: “A Christmas storyline is a huge moment in soap, so to get that and a big Christmas Day exit was a real honour!

“Obviously, it was bittersweet because it meant I was leaving, and I’ve felt really at home since I came back to EastEnders. But the storyline itself is tremendous, and it gave me much more to do than I expected.

“It’s been great to come out of my comfort zone and play some spectacular scenes full of spectacular lines.” He went on: “I was sad things were coming to an end, but I wanted to lean into the excitement of this story being a launch pad for some incredible stuff heading into 2026.”

He continued: “I love EastEnders and I love seeing the show thrive. So, while I’m sad to be saying goodbye to Anthony, I’m happy it means my friends are going to have some incredible stuff to play following his death.”

One thing the actor wasn’t expecting was that his character would begin showing a darker side, noting that he ‘didn’t think Anthony was the father’ of Zoe’s babies and that the show’s bosses ‘concealed it so well’.

“But it was a pleasant surprise because you always know that when there’s a big revelation like that, you are going to get some great stuff to play. My jaw hit the floor when our producer Ben Wadey told me where this was going and what was going to happen.

“But I think it was a masterstroke because when I look back, Anthony was always a bit like a pressure cooker, and he let things build and build before the steam escapes. This time he couldn’t keep the lid on it,” he stated.

He continued: “There are so many – my first scenes back with Rudy (Walker) and Jessie (Wallace), Patrick and Yolande’s wedding, the feud with Howie and Anthony exposing him to Kim and Patrick, and many, many more.

“I was over the moon to discover I’d be working with Michelle Ryan again. I didn’t know she was coming back when I was offered the job, so that was terrific because she’s a good friend and a tremendous actor.”