Rocky Cotton (Brian Conley) is poised to quit EastEnders, and as the character grows more and more desperate for money, it appears that his departure will be connected to his financial problems.
In September, it was revealed that Brian had been discussing quitting the serial opera with his co-stars and friends. The decision was believed to have surprised the show’s producers. This led to questions about the potential effects of his abrupt departure on the much anticipated Christmas murder episode.
Although there has been much conjecture over how he would be written out, it is becoming more and more probable that his leaving plot will center on his financial difficulties.
Rocky now owes a substantial sum of money. They had to pay his previous wife Jo (Vicki Michelle) £50,000 when he married Kathy (Gillian Taylforth) in order to keep her quiet. Rocky and Jo were still legally wed, therefore the money was used to persuade her to keep quiet about their bigamy.
Brian Conley informed us that Rocky’s plan to get out of this financial jam is to try to earn the money through gambling, which isn’t exactly a winning move for Rocky.
The actor said to us that the character “doesn’t know where he’s going to obtain this money and he feels his only way out is gambling which is obviously a fools game.” He believes that if he can win some money, he can pay it back gradually. Of course, as we are well aware, it is a losing strategy; you can never succeed at the bookies. “The only people that ever win at the bookmakers are the bookies,” he once said, is one of his quotations. I sometimes wish he would listen to himself.
The fact that Rocky has kept Kathy in the dark about the full scope of his financial situation is another major issue for him. This implies that Rocky will be unable to explain to Kathy why he doesn’t think she should buy a place to live with him.
The thought crossed Brian’s mind: “Rocky does have a problem where he tends to dig himself a big hole and you think he may as well sit round a dinner table and have a cup of tea with Kathy and just tell her the truth.”
But in typical Rocky form, he’s attempting to hide this from her because he wants to provide for Kathy and because he loves her so much that he wants to. Living with Reiss (Jonny Freeman) and Sonia (Natalie Cassidy) isn’t going to work, therefore they need their own apartment. However, in the back of his mind, he doesn’t want to go since he knows he can’t afford it.
Rocky is forced to take increasingly extreme tactics to obtain money because he won’t tell Kathy what’s going on, which ultimately involves returning to the bookmakers.
According to Brian, his character, things quickly spiral out of hand.
He added that although gambling had always been a social activity for him, he now saw it as his only option.
He is making the horrible error of believing he can compete with the bookmakers. As his desperation grows, he continues to invest more money in an effort to recover the money he has already lost. For him, it’s just one huge downward spiral.