Ross Boatman has revealed that his EastEnders character Harvey Monroe won’t be appearing in many episodes of the soap in the coming weeks – after he took a break from filming to undergo knee replacement surgery.
Boatman made the comments during an appearance on Matthew Rolland’s Isolation Interviews YouTube series, explaining that although he had now returned to filming, he missed two months while he was recovering from the operation.
“I won’t be on it for a while,” he said, teasing that fans will have to wait some time before they see any scenes between Harvey and his new love interest Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth).
“I haven’t had a chance to shoot loads with Gilly yet because I’ve just been off for two months,” he revealed.
“I had knee replacement surgery, so I haven’t been there. And now she’s on holiday, so I’m hoping we’ve got some stuff to shoot coming up soon, which will come out, maybe, towards the end of the year. Fingers crossed.”
As for what else is to come for Harvey not that Boatman has returned to filming, he has hinted at more scenes involving Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) and Ross Marshall (Alex Walkinshaw) – and teased that we’ll see a change in his character compared to his time with the Slaters.
Taxi driver Harvey has been a staple in Albert Square since Boatman joined the cast of the soap back in 2021, and was previously engaged to Jean Slater (Gillian Wright) before it emerged he was having an affair with Kathy.
Boatman revealed that he was “sad to be leaving the Slaters”, explaining: “I felt quite sad with it because these stories are not within your control.”
