Lacey Turner as Stacey Slater in EastEnders(Image: BBC/Kieron McCarron/Jack Barnes)
EastEnders star Lacey Turner has confirmed she’s leaving the show in a major announcement regarding her character Stacey Slater.

Lacey has been a major part of the BBC soap since making her Albert Square debut back in 2004, going on to become a firm fan favourite.

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Appearing in nearly 2,000 EastEnders episodes over the past two decades, Lacey has won four National Television Awards and six British Soap Awards for her performance.

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It’s been a challenging period for Stacey, who has spent recent weeks alone in her room following the death of Martin Fowler.

Lacey returned from maternity leave in February, just weeks after giving birth to her third child Gipsy, to appear in the show’s 40th anniversary live episode.

However, it has now emerged that Lacey is taking further ‘time away’ from the programme in a big blow for viewers.

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She told The Sun newspaper: “It’s time for myself and Stacey to take a rest and who knows what Stacey will get up to in her time away? Knowing Stacey, it will never be boring.”

Lacey Turner spoke candidly about suffering miscarriages (Image: Happy Mum Happy Baby Podcast)
A soap insider told the publication: “Lacey made the decision last year to take some time out from the show, she’s had a busy year both on and off screen, so it feels a good time to give Stacey a rest.

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“Lacey loves ‘EastEnders’, and it’s no secret how much EastEnders love Lacey, so it’s not a question of if she will be back, but when.”

Despite Lacey’s comments signaling Stacey’s impending departure, the show’s bosses have teased there’s ‘plenty of drama’ yet to come.

An EastEnders spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that Lacey will be off-screen later this year, but there is plenty of drama to come beforehand and we will look forward to planning Stacey’s return when Lacey decides the time is right.”

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Meanwhile, Lacey recently spoke to Giovanna Fletcher about how her last return to work made her cry as she said goodbye to her co-star James Bye, who played Martin.

She explained on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast: “It was hard because James and I are really close, like brother and sister.

“I felt like he had died – every tear that came out of my eye [while filming] was genuine sadness, I didn’t rehearse it.”