EastEnders spoilers: Khali Best to exit as Dexter Hartman

Best, who joined EastEnders in January 2013, won the Best Newcomer Prize at this year's National Television Awards but will depart before Christmas.

Despite a high profile storyline last year that saw him donate a kidney to save the life of his no-good dad Sam James, Dexter has mainly been on the periphery of the action in 2014 - an attempt to romance Nancy Carter, for instance, having not come to much.

Dexter's lack of screen time hasn't been helped by the fact that Best was suspended for three months earlier in the year for bad behaviour before being reintroduced to the BBC1 soap in September.

Speaking today, a spokesperson for EastEnders said to the Daily Star Sunday: "We can ­confirm that Khali Best will be written out of EastEnders before Christmas. We wish him all the best for the future.”

Best himself added: “I’ve had an amazing two years at EastEnders, however I am now looking for new challenges in future roles.”

News of Best's exit follows the news that the characters of Johnny Carter and Peter Beale are also set to depart Walford after actors Sam Strike and Ben Hardy decided to quit.

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Peter Beale to propose to Lauren Branning

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