Johnny Carter's touching 'coming out' storyline warmed the hearts of the nation, scoring Sam Strike and his on-screen dad Danny Dyer an awards nomination.
So the nation was shocked when the talented actor decided to leave the soap - and began wondering what had driven him to quit.
The answer, it would seem, was because he didn’t feel needed.
Revealing how he wasn't comfortable spending more time as Johnny than being himself, Sam told Digital Spy: "I didn't really feel like at the time my character was necessarily needed in EastEnders."
However, despite knowing he needed to leave, Sam was keen to ensure his departure didn't cause his colleagues any problems.
He said: "When I was in talks about leaving, I spoke to the people that I'd been working with the most - including Dom, the executive producer, and the Carters.
"I said to them that if there was anything they really wanted me to do we'd do that, as I didn't want to leave people high and dry.
"At that time I didn't feel that Johnny was totally necessary, but I really enjoyed it and I learned a lot.
"I have a whole new respect for soaps and the vast quantity of work they have to do."
Quizzed when he decided to leave, he added: "It's a difficult question, because I knew from the start that I was never going to be there for 10 years.
"It was just a case of seeing how things went, where the character was going and how relevant he was going to be in time to come."
EastEnders continues tonight at 7.30pm on BBC One /BBC One HD