James Bye refused ‘weird’ EastEnders request after Martin Fowler’s shocking exit

Hello Mr Darcy! – James Bye says goodbye to Martin Fowler(Image: Tom Dymond/REX/Shutterstock for NTA)

For the first baby born on EastEnders to perish in the Queen Vic inferno is about as calamitous a soap exit as a character can get.

In an equally dramatic move, after playing Martin Fowler for more than a decade, actor James Bye’s next role will be as Mr Darcy in a theatrical production of D.e.a.t.h Comes to Pemberley. Speaking exclusively, James, 41, says of his soap d.e.a.t.h: “It felt a helluva responsibility to d.i.e in that way, not only on the soap’s 40th anniversary but live in front of the nation. “

Executive producer Chris Clenshaw first discussed his departure storyline with James last September. James, whose character was born into Albert Square in July 1985, the baby boy of Pauline and Arthur Fowler, continues: “I’m attracted to fear, so I agreed. I’d joined in 2014, so it had been 10 years, effectively all of my 30s, that I’d been on the show.”

James Bye left EastEnders after a nail-biting live show(Image: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)

“It just felt the right time (to leave)and there were a lot of other things I wanted to do as an actor. It was sad to say goodbye and in an incredibly special live episode, something I’ll never get to do again in my life.” EastEnders fans were on tenterhooks until the final moments – with most guessing arsonist Reiss Colwell (Jonny Freeman)would perish, but many assuming his fiancee Sonia (Natalie Cassidy) would, too.

No one suspected that fruit ‘n’ veg stallholder Martin would d.i.e. “Which is what made it so effective,” says James. “The audience had always loved him and Stacey (Lacey Turner) as a couple, through all their ups and downs. Suddenly, it looked like a happy-ever-after for them and then it was snatched away.”

Meanwhile, there was massive pressure on James not to give the game away. “Obviously, I told my wife and I also decided I wanted to be the one who told Lacey,” he says. “It was a very emotional conversation. We’d been through a lot together.”

Good mates with Scott Maslen (who plays Jack Branning), Louisa Lytton (Ruby Allen), James Farrar (Zack Hudson) and Natalie Cassidy, he continues: “They’re the people I’ll miss the most.” He recalls a momentous build up to the big departure day on February 20, saying: “The adrenalin was incredible: nothing could go wrong.

Actress Lacey Turner, who plays Stacey, was distraught while filming their final scenes(Image: We Love TV)

“In my head, I felt calm. But the actress who was playing the paramedic told me afterwards that, when she was attaching the electrodes to my chest, she could feel my heart pumping fit to burst.” He believes the fear improved his acting.

Recalling the playbacks after rehearsals, he says: “There clearly wasn’t enough jeopardy. What was missing was my continuing pain, my anguish. I don’t think she’ll mind me saying, but Lacey was upset throughout all the rehearsals. She couldn’t hide the fact she was sobbing. I told her she didn’t need to cry all the time. She said: ‘I can’t help it. I’ve got no control.’

“Then, at the final rehearsal, I lost it. When Stacey walked away to talk to the paramedic, it was like an out-of-body experience. She came back and I had tears pouring down my face. When I spoke again, I didn’t think anyone would be able to understand what I was saying through my choking sobs. But the director was delighted. ‘That’s how we’ll do it on the live episode,’ he said.”

When the collapsed steel beam was finally lifted off Martin’s body, he went into cardiac arrest and d.i.e.d. “Stacey and I lay there for five minutes when it was all over and then fell into each other’s arms, for a cry and a cuddle,” says James. “It had been very much a team effort and we’d got through it together.”

But he still hasn’t watched the live episode. “I just haven’t had the chance,” he shrugs, unconvincingly. Similarly coy about his funeral scenes, which are yet to be screened, he says: “I’m not sure I want to watch my own cremation, if that’s what it turns out to be. I won’t record it. But I might catch it when it’s on.

James will star as Mr Darcy in D.e.a.t.h Comes to Pemberley(Image: Michael Wharley/prhandout)

“If I’m honest, I’d find it a bit weird. The art department were asking for pictures of me to put in the order of service. But I said no. I don’t want real photographs of me at my funeral, with my real family cut out.” Married to Victoria since 2012, James lights up when she is mentioned, saying: “She’s my whole world. I honestly think I wouldn’t know how to tie my own shoelaces without her around.”

Parents to Edward, 11, Louis, nine, Hugo, five – Lacey is his godmother, and Davood Ghadami, who played Kush Kazemi, his godfather – and Rufus, aka ‘the Tasmanian Devil, who is ’two in June, they are not planning any more kids. James laughs: “We’ve now drawn a line in the sand.”

Bizarrely, he and Victoria met when he was standing next to a 13-foot foam pineapple in Sainsbury’s car park in London’s Ladbroke Grove, handing out cartons of jelly. “It was a promotion, something out-of-work actors have to do to keep body and soul together,” he says.

“I was handing out samples and trying to persuade people to enter a draw to win a Caribbean holiday. Towards the end of the day, this gorgeous woman walks past and started showing real interest in what I was doing.”

The reason was that Victoria was employed by the same company as a mystery shopper, and was checking if James was doing a good job. “There was a bit of flirty banter which ended up with me giving her my phone number,” he grins, recalling how she texted and they met for a drink.

James and his wife Victoria have five children(Image: Instagram/jimmybye)

“A large glass of white wine and, six months later, we moved in together.” Married in 2012, they renewed their vows in 2023 in St Lucia where they had honeymooned. And she will be his rock as he enters the relatively unknown world of theatre – playing Mr Darcey from May 1 to June 28 at The Mill in Sonning, Berkshire, before touring until September.

He says: “Most of the dates are commutable from where we live in Buckinghamshire. So, I’ll be able to take the kids to school but not bath them in the evening.” Normally, he goes unbothered at the school dates, although he says being partnered with Amy Dowden on Strictly in 2022 made him more visible.

“She’d become the poster girl for Crohn’s Disease by then but she hadn’t been through all the cancer scares at that stage,” he says. “She’s the loveliest, bravest person I know; we got on incredibly well. We still message each other, still keep in touch. I’m sure she’ll come and see me on tour.”

As for what comes next? “I’ve never been a planner, maybe stupidly so. I’m a bit of a gambler,” he says. “It would be great to do one of those big Netflix dramas. Let’s see what comes along. Martin Fowler changed my life, no question. But I feel he set me up for anything that might now come my way. You’re looking at a happy man.”