EastEnders exit ‘not linked’ to baby snatch storyline

EASTENDERS actress Samantha Womack, whose character has been involved in the soap’s controversial baby swap plot, is to leave the show, the BBC has confirmed.

Womack plays Ronnie Branning, who lost baby son James to cot death on New Year’s Eve then swapped him for Kat Moon’s (Jessie Wallace) live newborn, Tommy — generating thousands of viewer complaints in the process.

Show chiefs confirmed mother-of-two Womack would be leaving the BBC1 soap in several months, but downplayed reports that her departure was prompted by the harrowing storyline.