Exclusive: Casualty star Chelsea Halfpenny reacts to Alicia's exit
Casualty star Chelsea Halfpenny has revealed what's next for her after her final scenes as Alicia Munroe aired tonight (January 19).
Alicia left the show in Saturday's episode, having decided to put her career before her relationship with boyfriend Ethan Hardy.
News of Alicia's impending departure had broken earlier in the week, along with the confirmation that Chelsea wouldn't be heading back to Emmerdale afterwards, either.
Speaking about her future plans after leaving Casualty, Chelsea said to Digital Spy: "I am still only 27 and there are still lots of things I want to kick off.
"I had such a great time at Casualty and the job was amazing, but I've been there for a few years and I just felt like it was time for me to move on and progress. I wanted to leave on a high.
"I am going on holiday to Trinidad and Tobago to visit my boyfriend’s family which will be amazing. After that, there are a couple of things I’ve got coming up which I can’t talk about yet as it’s not completely confirmed.
"I've also done a couple of voice overs and stuff but now it’s the New Year I want to start being super productive and we’ll just see."
Explaining that she was happy with the nature of Alicia's exit story, Chelsea said: "I am sad about her and Ethan because you want the people who you want to be together to get a happy ending. But I think it’s cool that she is following her head and progressing in her career.
"I am sure that if they are meant to be then they will meet again. Maybe he will move to Manchester in years to come? Who knows! I definitely think it’s cool that she’s doing something for herself though and that she didn’t just stay for a boy."
Chelsea added: "Alicia had a hard time with their relationship, and in the end, I think it was obvious that she had, maybe not outgrown Ethan, but that they were going at very different paces. I think she also feels that he still sees her as the person she was when she first joined Holby.
"They’ve been bumping heads a lot more recently, and it’s almost like now they are out of the honeymoon stage, they don’t really work as a couple. I think she made a good decision, but I’d never say never with those two."
Casualty continues on Saturday, January 26 on BBC One.
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