EastEnders was explosive last night, as Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) revealed to Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig) (and, accidentally, the entire pub) that Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) had been lying about the paternity of her missing son.
Though fans also noticed a much smaller moment, that has perhaps revealed how a soon-to-be departing character will leave Walford, and where she’ll be headed. have dropped a major clue about Anna Knight’s (Molly Rainford) departure from the show.
As things heated at the Queen Vic pub quiz, as team Beale (Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt, Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman) and Peter Beale (Thomas Law)) went head to head with team Peacock (Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe), Johnny Carter (Charlie Suff), Callum Highway (Tony Clay) and Anna), Anna revealed that she was saving money for her impending ‘trip to Oz’, with viewers flooding to X to announce their theories.
‘#EastEnders Finally we got firstly we got glimpses of Anna’s exit tonight as she teases her emigrating to Australia but with Freddie leaving too – Will he go with Anna? I have a feeling that Anna’s exit may be this week given she’s had a lot of scenes lately’ said @ryansoapking25 on X.
‘Ah Anna’s leaving story. Shes travelling to Oz, maybe with Freddie?’ added@lisaa_ell, while @scullyscully73 thought that the mention of Australia was a hint toward actress Molly’s future plans: ‘is Anna dropping a hint to goin gin to the Jungle mentioning her ‘Trip to Oz’??’
It has been previously confirmed that Molly will be bowing out of the BBC soap after two years of playing Anna. While the actress herself has yet to comment, BBC released a statement, saying: ‘We can confirm that Molly Rainford will be leaving EastEnders later this year, and we wish her all the best for the future.’
Fans are predicting that Anna’s exit will coincide with that of former boyfriend Freddie Slater (Bobby Brazier), who will also depart this year after four years on the Square.
On Molly’s exit, a source told The Sun: ‘New boss Ben Wadey is making sweeping changes on the show and his decision coincided with Mollie deciding she wanted to pursue other challenges.
‘She’s hugely talented and wants to spread her wings and see what else is out there for her. Molly came into the show two years ago, and in that time has been trusted with some great storylines.
‘It’s just so happened that when Molly was considering other options in her career, a meeting was held to discuss the future of the character, and both parties were in mutual agreement that it was the right time for Anna Knight to wave goodbye to Walford.’
Anna’s time in Walford
Anna moved straight into the heart of Albert Square when she, sister Gina (Francesca Henry) and dad George (Colin Salmon) to run The Queen Vic pub with George’s girlfriend, Elaine, and was thrown almost immediately into a mystery regarding her mum, known only as ‘Rose Knight’. Upon Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) and Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) discovering that Rose Knight didn’t exist, Anna turned to a private investigator.
The big reveal that Rose Knight was, in fact, Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), who’d been living as Rose while in witness protection after faking her death.
She later found herself in the middle of a dark, spiking storyline. Following a mugging, Anna fell victim to a spiker while in Peggy’s nightclub, a storyline which spawned a special digital spin-off series.
EastEnders had teamed up with leading charities Stamp Out Spiking and WithYou as well as numerous experts in the field in order to ensure the plot was portrayed as accurately and as sensitively as possible, with then-executive producer, Chris Clenshaw saying: ‘With incidents of spiking rising at alarming rates across the UK in recent years, we chose to explore this issue with Anna Knight who represents the demographic most affected by spiking.
‘It was imperative for us to work alongside organisations to accurately present, and sensitively portray this storyline, and Molly’s performance has thoughtfully demonstrated the dangerous realities of spiking as we look to raise awareness of the warning signs and symptoms to look out for after an individual has been spiked.’
Anna’s most recent plot found her conflicted between then-boyfriend Bobby Beale (Clay Milner Russell) and his best mate Freddie, later falling pregnant with Bobby’s child and terminating the pregnancy.
