EastEnders star Matthew James Morrison has revealed he's out of work, a year after he was axed from the BBC soap.
The actor played Felix Baker for three years and made history during his time in Walford as the man behind Tara Misu, EastEnders' first regular drag queen character. He left the soap in 2025 after bosses decided to write his character out of the show.
While he has managed to land theatre roles since his departure, he has now confessed that he is struggling for work.
Appearing on the Missleighdingfortunes podcast, hosted by drag queen Miss Leigh Ding, Morrison shared his reality since leaving the show. Reflecting on leaving EastEnders, he said: "I finished EastEnders and I thought you know, maybe something will come, maybe something might not come. For a lot of people who've left the show since I started, some of them have worked, some of them haven't worked."
Theatre work and a tour
Morrison told how he did a theatre job in Greenwich, quickly followed by another stage production. However, after recently finishing a tour, he admitted he is now without another job.
He said: "This is the first time since really leaving EastEnders, I finished the tour over a week ago, and I don't have anything lined up. It feels like I am stood in the desert just being like what do I do next?"
Morrison then said he could use the downtime to develop new skills, including learning to ride a horse or mastering another accent.
Sixth cast member to leave
Morrison was the sixth cast member to leave the soap last year. His character arrived three years ago to great acclaim, with Morrison saying at the time: "I am blessed to have the opportunity to step into the heels of the fierce Tara Misu as part of my role on EastEnders."
Fans had criticised the soap for not making use of the character and not giving him a significant storyline after the character later became a barman at The Albert and took more of a backseat role.
Fans fear for the show's future
EastEnders delivers 3.5 million viewers to BBC1 per episode, but despite spending £87million on a new outdoor set, its loyal viewers fear for its future as it is "losing its best actors."
One fan said: "They are losing all their best actors. It won't be worth watching shortly." Another said: "Why are they getting rid of the good actors? I still can't believe they got rid of Martin."
A Facebook user wrote: "EastEnders is doing my head in getting rid of all the best actors and killing them off. I won't watch it when they are gone." And another fan asked: "What is it with EastEnders wanting to keep killing people off?"
