Brian Conley has revealed that he was always aware that his character Rocky on EastEnders was hiding a secret.
In a shock twist in tonight's episodes, viewers learned that the man claiming to be the father of Sonia (Natalie Cassidy) is actually Thomas Cotton, the uncle of Dotty (Milly Zero) - and is involved in a plot to get Sonia's inheritance from her.
"I was very aware [of the twist] when I started," said Conley. "I was fortunate enough to have it mapped out, we didn't know his name or things like that, but it was one of the reasons that they always called me Rocky because he's meant to be Terry but he's actually Thomas, and that could get confusing, so they decided on Rocky - much to my amusement, as I couldn't be further from Rocky!
"For me, the hardest thing was keeping it a secret. Friends would go 'Oh I love the fact that you're a father.' Lots of people have commented on that and when I initially came on everyone was like 'oh you're Sonia's dad' .. You want to go - 'yeah you just watch this space!'
"It's a relief that it's come out, I want them all to know who he really is, and how the story will unfold. He's always been charming and fun and nice but there's never been anything more than that, so now to get this whirlwind of information as an audience, there'll be a treat now to find out what he's doing there, why he's resorted to this, why this whole thing has gone on for so long."
EastEnders continues Thursday at 7.35pm on BBC One.
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