After 14 years as Holby City's resident Ice Queen, Rosie Marcel has confirmed she's leaving the hit BBC1 medical drama. Here she talks Jac's explosive exit...
Jac Naylor has been a formidable force at Holby for over 14 years - but next Tuesday’s Holby City episode marks the end of an era as actress Rosie Marcel is leaving the show.
And it seems the actress is most certainly going out with a bang - there's a gunman on Darwin ward and Jac is well and truly in the firing line.
It all kicked off last week when Remi, the boyfriend of Kian Madani's drug dealer Sarah Jane, came onto Darwin ward with a gun. As he started shooting, it remained a mystery who'd been hurt.
As Remi’s plan to escape with prisoner Sarah Jane has now turned into a hostage situation, the hospital is slammed into a security lockdown, and Jac finds herself staring down the barrel of Remi's gun…
Kian doesn't exactly help matters as he pockets a scalpel, clearly to use in self-defence. Jac's furious - it's because of him and his drug habit that they're in this situation!
"Jac feels none of this would've happened if Kian hadn't been weak, and she learns in this episode that he's still choosing drugs over her," reveals Rosie. "Jac's always been a creature of instinct; she knows when something's wrong, but she ignored it this time, so she feels stupid that she didn't listen to herself.
"Jac's been let down a lot in her life. So for her to now feel let down by the man she's in love with, it’s a huge disappointment."
As Jac and Kian try and treat Sarah Jane and her wounded prison officer, armed police descend on the hospital. But Remi is now more erratic and turns his gun once again on Jac - who tells him to shoot!
"Jac's in serious jeopardy but she doesn’t care anymore," explained Rosie. "It’s like a real revelatory moment for her; she thinks she might die but she's just fed up with people like Remi and Kian messing with her life. She's had enough!"
We won't reveal Jac's fate - but Rosie admitted she will certainly miss playing Holby's resident Ice Queen…
"There’s never been a dull moment playing Jac," she said: 'I’d like to think Holby won't be the same without her. Jac's pretty irreplaceable."
Holby City continues Tuesdays at 8pm on BBC1.
