{"id":50396,"date":"2024-04-28T13:17:56","date_gmt":"2024-04-28T11:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2032467"},"modified":"2024-04-28T15:35:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-28T13:35:15","slug":"eastenders-shona-mcgarty-opens-up-on-decision-to-leave-soap","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/eastenders-shona-mcgarty-opens-up-on-decision-to-leave-soap\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders\u2019 Shona McGarty opens up on decision to leave soap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whit will be departing this year. <\/p>

By Helen Daly\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 28 April 2024 at 11:17 AM<\/p>

\n\n

Shona McGarty, who plays Whitney Dean on EastEnders, said she would be leaving the soap after 16 years.<\/p>\n

And in a new interview with The Sun<\/a>, the actress has opened up on why she wanted to take on new opportunities after turning 30.<\/p>\n

McGarty told producers in Summer \u201923 and although is emotional about leaving, is confident about her exciting future plans.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt was a really difficult decision, because it\u2019s all I\u2019ve ever known. I pretty much grew up on the Square, so I feel like I\u2019m leaving home. But I had to put on my big girl pants and be quite brave, because life is so short, and you feel that more and more as you get older.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are other opportunities and areas of the industry I want to explore before I get too old! All things come to an end and this is the new chapter of my life,\u201d McGarty said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, 16 years is amazing. I\u2019ve had a really good run and Whitney needs a break. She\u2019s had a pretty tough paper round!\u201d<\/p>\n

As for how she\u2019ll depart? Well, that\u2019s a closely guarded secret.<\/p>\n

\"Shona\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
BBC\/Jack Barnes\/Kieron McCarron<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always up to the writers and the producer \u2013 it\u2019s their show at the end of the day,\u201d McGarty explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the one thing I did request was for Whitney to remind the audience of where she\u2019s come from and how feisty she was when she first arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they\u2019ve done it perfectly. They\u2019ve made her feisty again, and I\u2019m so happy with the way everything ties up.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the moment on screen, Whitney is pregnant with Zack\u2019s (James Farrar) baby, and is currently hiding a very big secret from him about the conditions on which troubled teen Britney is living with them under.<\/p>\n

No doubt when the truth comes out about how Whit paid Britney\u2019s mum to take her off her hands, Zack won\u2019t be happy.<\/p>\n