Well Rocky, you pretended to be Sonia’s Dad,
Had two heart attacks,
Married Kathy Beale,
Met the King of England,
Your best mate’s Harry Redknapp,
You blew up the cafe,
and had a pet parrot called Jasper. Gonna miss you, you old rascal. X pic.twitter.com/8nZLmj6fPj— Brian Conley (@RealBrianConley) December 30, 2023
Acting legend and EastEnders star Brian Conley has shared a tribute following the departure of his character Rocky.
Arriving in 2021 as part of a scam, Rocky pretended to be Sonia’s (Natalie Cassidy) long-lost father for months, until it was revealed he was actually working with Dotty Cotton (Milly Zero), and his real name was Tom Cotton.
Last week, during the Christmas Day episode of the BBC One soap, a drunk Rocky was wandering around Albert Square in the snow.
At one point, he spotted Sharon (Letitia Dean) in her wedding dress heading into the cafe, which was destroyed after Rocky set it on fire in a dodgy insurance job.
While he was suspicious, Rocky had no idea Sharon was working with the remaining members of The Six – Suki (Balvinder Sopal), Stacey (Lacey Turner), Denise (Diane Parish), Kathy (Gillian Taylforth) and Linda (Kellie Bright). They were in the process of getting rid of Keanu’s (Danny Walters) body after Linda stabbed and killed him.
In the aftermath, though he was blackout drunk, Rocky slowly started to piece together what he saw Christmas night, which proved concerning for The Six.
After multiple conversations, the group concluded that reporting Rocky to the police would be best.
With proof Rocky had been looking into insurance payouts the day before the fire, Kathy had no choice but to inform the authorities, leading to Rocky’s arrest shortly after.
After Rocky’s questioning had seen him deny the claims that he had deliberately started the fire, Kathy encouraged him to tell the truth, making out that it may help him get a shorter sentence.
She then promised to wait for him so they can be together once he has served his time, and it became clear that Rocky intended to do as she’d asked.
Following the episode, which aired on December 29, Brian Conley shared a tweet that confirmed he has left the show.
In a sweet message, he said: ‘Well Rocky, you pretended to be Sonia’s Dad, had two heart attacks, married Kathy Beale, met the King of England, your best mate’s Harry Redknapp, you blew up the cafe, and had a pet parrot called Jasper. Gonna miss you, you old rascal.’
And in the episode being broadcasted on January 1, but is already available to view on BBC iPlayer, a comment from Harvey (Ross Boatman) allowed fans to discover Rocky has been charged and bail doesn’t look likely.
With Rocky’s exit happening as a result of actions from The Six, how many other Walford residents will be impacted by their desperation to hide the truth?
