Lorraine Stanley has confirmed she has left EastEnders for good after seven years.
The actress departed her BBC soap role as Karen Taylor in December last year, days before her son Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) was murdered by Linda Carter (Kellie Bright).
Karen left her old home alongside partner Mitch Baker (Roger Griffiths), young Bailey and Mack and Mia, the children of Karen’s daughter Chantelle Atkins.
The family climbed into Mitch’s van and waved goodbye to life in Walford, starting again in Spain.
After Keanu’s death, The Six buried his body under the floorboards in the café, hoping their involvement in his demise would disappear too.
Karen’s first return back in February saw her question the locals on Keanu’s whereabouts, as well as the events that occurred on Christmas Day.
She left under the impression Keanu had run away and would eventually return to his family, something he had done before.
Sadly though, when the floor caved in and Keanu’s body was revealed, The Six were forced to work harder than ever before to keep the truth hidden, as Karen made another return to try and find out what happened to her boy.
As a very emotional and angry Karen started asking questions, The Six successfully managed to frame Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) and put him back inside.
In the most recent storyline, Karen was back in Walford receiving support from many locals on the day of Keanu’s funeral.
After the event, Karen was seen in the pub expressing her thoughts on Dean being responsible for killing her son. She couldn’t help but wonder what drove Dean to murder, given he barely knew Keanu.
With that, she made her way to the prison in search of closure, but certainly didn’t expect Dean to tell Karen she should ask Linda why she’s been lying to everyone.
Yesterday (June 17), thanks to help from Johnny Carter (Charlie Suff), Linda managed to keep quiet when Karen spoke to her.
In the Square, during a chat with Bernie Taylor (Clair Norris), Karen concluded that questioning Linda was due to her grief and emotional state and that it was time to move on.
Sharing a heartwarming montage video on Instagram, which featured a variety of images from the last seven years on the show, she wrote alongside: ‘Well that’s a wrap!! I’ve had the best 7 years!! Thankyou @bbceastenders for having me. @daranlittle for creating the Taylor’s, Sean O’Connor for giving me the opportunity with the @bbc @crampsielinge for casting me, I really can’t thank you enough 🙏🏽❤️
She added: ‘The cast, crew, Directors, writers, makeup, wardrobe all made my time on the show so much fun and I had the best giggles,I’ve had a ball playing Karen Taylor & I’m very proud of what the Taylor/Bakers brought to the show! Thankyou to the fans who have all been wonderfully bonkers 😘❤️👌
‘I haven’t got photos of everyone but here’s a little montage of the photos I have. Adios ✌🏼🫶🏽❤️’
