Leslie Grantham quit 'EastEnders' because he was "bored."
Leslie Grantham
The 69-year-old actor has admitted he left the long-running soap opera in 2005, which saw his alter-ego Den Watts - also known as Dirty Den - killed off by his wife Chrissie Watts (Tracey-Ann Oberman), because he was fed up of acting on the small screen.
Speaking openly about his departure on 'This Morning' on Thursday (21.07.16), he said: "I got bored with acting, which is a terrible thing to say. As you get old there's new people coming along."
However, despite turning his back on television, Leslie didn't completely shut down his acting career as he decided to star in a number of films and work on becoming a renowned author.
He explained: "I do a couple of things ... straight to DVD films, but I've been writing this book ... compelling fantasy novel."
Although Leslie lost the excitement for the long-running programme, which he first joined in 1985, he teased he was "thrilled" to be chatting to the breakfast show hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on the brunchtime programme.
Prior to his appearance on the channel, he tweeted: "Thrilled @Schofe caught his plane, now he's out of the country I get to talk to @EamonnHolmes @RuthieeL instead on @itvthismorning tomorrow. (sic)."
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