Ever since Danny Dyer departed EastEnders at the end of 2022, fans have been speculating about what really happened to his character Mick Carter.
In his final scenes on the soap, the former Queen Vic landlord had been attempting to rescue his beloved Linda (Kellie Bright) and the then-heavily pregnant Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks) following an accident at sea, only to vanish without a trace.
A body was never found and Mick’s fate has been left open to interpretation, but now Dyer himself has offered his twopence worth as to whether his character might have survived the incident – and it’s bad news for fans.
“He’s dead,” he said in no uncertain terms during a recent interview with Heatworld.
“Look, I take it as a compliment that people want me to go back. Who knows? If there’s no closure there, then maybe I would come back for a dream sequence. I don’t think Mick could just rock up covered in seaweed!”
Expanding on the possibility of some sort of brief return to the soap, he added: “I think if they did it right, with the 40th anniversary coming up, if they came up with an idea of maybe Linda drunk or hallucinating, then I would come back and do some scenes with her.
“You know, because I do miss Kellie, and I think maybe that would stop people asking me when I’m f**king going back!”
So, although that might be a sliver of good news for fans desperate to see Mick back in Walford, we won’t be expecting him to be pulling pints again at any point in the future…
Instead, Dyer will soon be seen alongside David Tennant and Aidan Turner in the Disney Plus adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s Rivals, which unveiled its first teaser trailer this week.
EastEnders usually airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.
Visit our dedicated EastEnders page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.
