Former EastEnders star Ben Hardy says he was "battling" soap exit for a "year"

"I have so much respect for everyone who works on that show, [but] I felt myself getting lazy as an actor," he explained. "I felt myself constantly going, 'This scene doesn’t work.'"

Hardy went on to say that it was like "trying to make a diamond out of something that can't be a diamond".

"That laziness scared me," he added. "I [said], 'I have to get out of here.'"

Hardy was the sixth person to play Peter, with Dayle Hudson replacing him in 2020, followed by Thomas Law in 2023, who returned to the role for a second time.

One of his most notable storylines was his grief for his sister Lucy (Hetti Bywater), who was killed by younger brother Bobby. He was also romantically involved with Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa).

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The actor went on to appear in films X-Men: Apocalypse and Bohemian Rhapsody, and he also appeared in 2021 BBC thriller The Girl Before alongside former EastEnders actor Jessica Plummer.

Hardy is currently starring in Unicorns, in which he plays a mechanic and single father who falls in love with a drag queen (Jason Patel).

Speaking to RadioTimes.com, Hardy said that he and Patel "instantly had some chemistry" when they first met, which prompted directors Sally El Hosaini and James Krishna Floyd to initially keep them apart to ensure that spark was preserved.

"Sally and James wanted to keep hold of that and not let that... saturate, for lack of a better word," he explained. "So they kept us apart until the first day of filming. And that helped kind of keep that sort of nervous energy around the two of us, but still having that natural rapport."

Patel also revealed a message he'd received from a fan who'd been moved by the film during a festival screening last year.

"I had someone DM me on Instagram, saying about how much the film had touched them," he explained. "And that it got them to, like, come out to their parents – which I think is so lovely. It's so sweet."

He added: "And I don't know, I don't want to cry about it. But it's so nice... the impact that cinema has, and the work that you make... it just makes you realise that you're doing the right thing, and you're making work that you care about."

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.

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