Johnny Carter will return to Eastenders, Sam Strike will not
Gay character Johnny Carter will return to Eastenders in 2016, however actor Sam Strike will not.
The character – whose emotional coming out scene won Eastenders Attitude’s Media Recognition Prize in 2014 – will return to screens later this year but will be recast as Sam Strike, who portrayed the character, has told Digital Spy that he is “not ready to return” to the series.
“I think if they want Johnny back in the show it’s something they should definitely do. I wasn’t ready to return any time in the near future,” the 22-year-old actor said of the recasting.
He continued: “I hope they find lots for Johnny to do and give him lots of stories, and the new actor can have the adventure with Johnny that I would’ve liked to have before he became stale.”
Pink News reports that a spokesperson for Eastenders has confirmed the character’s return, commenting: “There are so many more stories that we wanted to tell with Johnny, so we felt that the time was right to unite the Carter family again.”
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