Former EastEnders star James Bye has revealed he turned down a request from the soap over his character Martin Fowler’s forthcoming funeral.
The beloved fruit and veg trader died in the aftermath of the Queen Vic explosion in February, shortly after sharing a romantic reunion with ex-wife Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) in the rubble of the pub.
The Walford residents are currently making final preparations for Martin’s funeral next week, with his sister Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig) and daughter Bex Fowler (Jasmine Armfield) set to return home to say their final goodbyes.
In a bid to make the funeral scenes more realistic, James revealed that the EastEnders art department asked to be able to use some of his real-life photos – but he turned them down.
Speaking about the funeral, he said: ‘I’m not sure I want to watch my own cremation, if that’s what it turns out to be. I won’t record it. But I might catch it when it’s on.
‘If I’m honest, I’d find it a bit weird. The art department were asking for pictures of me to put in the order of service. But I said no.
‘I don’t want real photographs of me at my funeral, with my real family cut out,’ he added to The Mirror.
James has been married to wife Victoria since 2012 and they have four sons together – 10-year-old Edward, eight-year-old Louis, Hugo, 5, and one-year-old Rufus.
James also discussed agreeing to have Martin killed off during the live episode for the BBC soap’s 40th anniversary after a meeting with then-boss Chris Clenshaw.
‘I’m attracted to fear, so I agreed,’ he said.
‘It just felt the right time and there were a lot of other things I wanted to do as an actor. It was sad to say goodbye and in an incredibly special live episode, something I’ll never get to do again in my life.’
James took over the role of Martin Fowler when the character returned to Walford after a seven-year absence in 2014.
Child actor Jon Peyton-Price played him from his birth in 1985 to 1996, with James Alexandrou then taking over until his exit in 2007.
Following his EastEnders exit, James will soon be treading the boards in a new production of Death Comes To Pemberley.
He will take on the role of Mr Darcy from May 1 to June 28 at The Mill at Sonning from 1 May to 28 June, before then touring around the UK.
