EastEnders star Davood Ghadami has opened up about his reaction to his character Kush Kazemi's exit plot on the BBC One soap.
Kush made a heartbreaking exit from the soap in April, when the much-loved character met a violent end in front of a tube train after being pushed by jealous killer Gray Atkins, just as Kush was about to set off for a new life with fiancée Whitney Dean and his son Arthur Fowler.
Kush's shocking exit made a real impact on the Square and actor Davood Ghadami has revealed that although he is pleased to have made a "memorable" departure from the soap, it was still difficult to watch it play out.
Speaking to Digital Spy and other media, the actor said that joining the cast of Holby City very soon after leaving EastEnders helped to "soften the blow a little bit", particularly as both shows are filmed at Elstree Studios.
Related: Holby City newcomer Davood Ghadami reveals tragic secret in Eli's story
"I started on Holby the day before Kush's final episode, so it felt like I didn't have to take it on as much," he said. "When you watch it happen and then feel like you're out of everything, it hits a little harder. I had something else to concentrate on which was very welcome.
"You do get attachments to the characters or people you work with, and it's hard to break that. As exits go, it was memorable and different, and for a lot of people it was unexpected, and there was a finality to it! It was nice to put it to bed.
"I will miss Kush dearly, but I get to see these people I work with all the time! We will sit and chat about EE and Holby, and we chat about where Holby's going, it's nice to be a part of the buzz. We've got a certain amount of time left to tell our Holby story, hopefully it'll be bold, brave and certainly different to anything we've seen before."
Davood will first be seen on screen in Holby on July 27, setting foot on the hospital wards as new Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon Eli Ebrahimi, and the actor revealed that he was very pleased to be able to step straight from one long-running BBC show to another.
Related: Why has Holby City been axed?
"There was talk of me going over to Holby, just as things were ending on EastEnders. I felt very lucky," he said. "It also meant I could go back to the workplace I've been going to for six and a half years, which was really nice. It felt like I had the opportunity to go over to, essentially, a different department in the same workplace.
"It didn't feel so daunting by coming out of one show and going straight into the world of auditioning. That crossover was very, very welcomed and I felt very lucky to go through that. There wasn't a huge amount of time between the two.
"I had to get my teeth into Eli and what was coming up in Holby very soon after I'd said goodbye to Kush."
Related: Holby City offers new look at Davood Ghadami in first role following his EastEnders exit
Davood was also full of praise for fellow Holby star Ramin Karimloo, whose character Kian Madani passed away in June, revealing that they bonded immediately after being introduced.
"We share a lot of the same directors on Holby and EastEnders, and one of them said to me that there was a great guy I needed to go and meet on Holby. This was months ago when Ramin was in the thick of his own stories," he said.
"Ramin is also half Iranian and loves his crossfit and this is something we had in common. This was right at the end of my time in EastEnders, but Ramin came over to the Square to have a look around. We met and had a chat.
"It was one half Iranian out and another in. It is a revolving door policy for us guys! It was great to meet him though. He's a fantastic actor."
Davood will make his Holby City debut on Tuesday, July 27 on BBC One.
EastEnders airs on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays on BBC One. All of this week's episodes are currently available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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