EastEnders bosses' clever tactics to hide Keanu Taylor's exit from soap

26 December 2023 , 00:21

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EastEnders bosses had a string of clever tactics to keep Keanu Taylor's surprise exit a secret after Danny Walters bowed out of the BBC soap tonight (Image: BBC)

EastEnders bosses had a string of clever tactics to keep Keanu Taylor's shock exit a secret.

Soap boss Chris Clenshaw previously explained how the team had several methods to keep people guessing right up until the last minute about what might happen on the BBC soap this Christmas.

Chris recently revealed: "We’ve had several methods in place throughout the entire year to keep the storyline a secret and to ensure that the Christmas Day episode and the big reveal of who’s on the floor – plus who does it – remains under wraps until the 25th December. Sadly, I can’t reveal what those methods are as that would give everything away, but it would be a real shame if anyone spoiled the surprise as we know how much the audience love watching the drama unfold in real-time."

Here's some of the ways soap bosses kept things under wraps before the big reveal on Christmas Day.

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Multiple endings

Rocky Cotton - who plays Rocky Cotton on the BBC soap - had previously opened up about the big Christmas storyline, sharing how the soap had filmed multiple endings to ensure things wouldn't leak ahead of Christmas.

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He explained back in the summer: "None of us have got a clue. I believe leading up to Christmas, there might be ten of us laying there so that it will be a big surprise to us as well. We're all going to maybe film a moment where we're all laying on the floor, and then right up until the last minute, they can reveal on Christmas Day who it is."

These multiple endings and scenes meant that the secret was kept from fans right up until the night.

Fake scenes

Keanu actor Danny Walters was seen filming scenes which were expected to air in January and onwards. The actor was seen chatting with Jacqueline Jossa, who plays Lauren Branning and is making her return in the New Year. He was pictured chatting with her on set, seemingly 'proving' he was still alive in January - but now we know that isn't the case.

The actor was also seen filming scenes at an airport. In the pictures, he was seen clutching his passport and a holdall bag. He seemed ready to jet away from the country after all that happened with Albie, but we also know this is a 'fake' scene too.

Body doubles

Back in February, after the big flashforward scene aired, Kellie Bright - who plays Linda Carter on the BBC soap - opened up about the big scene, and how they had filmed with body doubles so it wasn't revealed there and then.

She said several months ago on This Morning: "We had a stand in, a body double if you’d like. It wasn’t the person. When we filmed it, they actually made Tish [Letitia Dean] do it two ways so we had a ‘he’s dead’ and a ‘she’s dead’.

"Watching it last night was the first time I really knew all about it. You can imagine, we’ve all gone around the houses on who it could be. I think there’s going to be lots of red herrings, and that’s what is so clever about this."

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Jasmine Allday