Alex Walkinshaw
Alex Walkinshaw is leaving his role in Casualty to start a new one in Holby City.
The 39-year-old actor - who has played hunky nurse Adrian 'Fletch' Fletcher in the BBC medical drama since 2012 - will see his alter-ego turn his back on the Emergency Department to pursue a career in the main hospital wards.
Speaking on ITV's 'Lorraine' this morning (01.04.14), he said: "My 'Casualty' days are over."
The father-of-four is set to leave with a bang after he's forced to deal with the consequences of his steamy affair with clinical manager Tess Bateman (Suzanne Packer).
Alex explained: "His relationship with Tess all comes back up and they have to deal with certain things about that. It has to play out and to play out, it means Fletch has to leave 'Casualty'.
"He leaves 'Casualty' during that storyline and then I think, at a later date, potentially gets offered another job within the same hospital."
However, Fletch's new job won't run as smoothly as he hopes when he crosses paths with a former colleague, the Director of Nursing Colette Sheward (Louise Delamere), who will go out of her way to make his life difficult.
Oliver Kent, executive producer of 'Casualty' and 'Holby City', said: "We at 'Holby City' were thinking of a new male nurse to play alongside Jonny Maconie (Michael Thomson) and lock horns with Colette.
"When Alex suggested he might get in the lift and come upstairs to 'Holby City', we accepted like a shot. Alex as Fletch has been a wonderful asset to 'Casualty' and I am very excited about him bringing his unique blend of warmth and blokiness to the wards."