EastEnders actor reveals he’s out of work – just a year on from leaving BBC soap opera

AN EASTENDERS actor has revealed he’s out of work just a year after leaving the BBC series. The Sun exclusively revealed in 2025 how soap bosses had made the decision to write out the character, who was the show’s first ever drag queen character with his act Tara Misu. EastEnders actor Matthew James Morrison has revealed he’s out of work since leaving the soap Credit: tiktok/@missleighdingfortunes He played Walford’s Felix Baker for three years Credit: BBC Now actor Matthew James Morrison, who played Felix Baker for three years, has confessed he is struggling for work. After starring on EastEnders between 2022 and 2025, he told the Missleighdingfortunes podcast, hosted by drag queen Miss Leigh Ding, of his state of mind during a tarot card reading. Sign up for the Eastenders newsletter Thank you! 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”. He confessed ‘I don’t have anything lined up’ Credit: tiktok/@missleighdingfortunes He played the BBC soap’s first ever drag queen, Tara Credit: BBC He told how he did a theatre job in Greenwich, south east London, quickly followed by another stage show. Yet he candidly admitted: “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?” Matthew then asked podcast host Miss Leigh Ding about his next career path, and suggested everything from learning how to ride a horse to perfecting a new accent. Most read in Showbiz EastEnders stars who QUIT MICHELLE Collins has seen her second EastEnders stint boost her bank balance. Yet what stars have quit this year? The Sun exclusively reported how Michelle, 62, was down to £20,000 in her company accounts when she agreed to a shock back-from-the-dead return to Albert Square last year. Her character, Cindy Beale, was presumed dead off-camera in 1998. Yet what about the 2024 exits? Earlier this summer, loyal soap fans appeared to note how Stevie Mitchell had “quit” the long-running series. It came after Alan Ford enjoyed just six-months on-screen. Bobby Beale actor Clay Milner Russell also left this year after five years in Walford. Fans also feared Martin Fowler actor James Bye would “quit out of boredom” over recent storylines. Additionally, a host of stars have quit the BBC soap for Hollywood fame. One of the most successful stars to come from the BBC One soap is Rob Kazinsky. He played Stacey Slater’s brother Sean Slater from 2006 to 2009, he has starred in Hollywood blockbusters Pacific Rim and Captain Marvel. Ben Hardy, who quit EastEnders as Bobby Beale almost a decade ago, went on to break Hollywood the following year, when he starred as Archangel in X-Men: Apocalypse. Since then, he has played Roger Taylor in Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, and he starred in Michael Bay’s Netflix movie 6 Underground. Michelle Ryan played Zoe Slater until 2005. She starred as the lead in short-lived American series Bionic Woman from 2007 to 2008. Last year, Matthew filmed his final soap scenes soon after bosses made the decision to write out his character. A source at the time said: “It’s never an easy decision for bosses when they have to make the decision for a character to leave. “Matthew has been great, but bosses felt the time was right to say goodbye to Felix.” The star made his debut in 2019 as part of the Baker family – cousins of the Taylors. He arrived with dad Avery and brother Finlay, but Avery died just weeks after arriving in Walford, and Finlay was axed after a year. In 2022, on his permanent start on the soap, Mathew said 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. “It’s a privilege to represent the LGBTQIA+ community and to showcase the creative art of drag to both viewers at home and the residents of Walford.” The character later became a barman at The Albert and took more of a backseat role. Comment now