Charlie Condou says his \'Holby City\' character will leave the hospital to "figure out who he is".
The former \'Coronation Street\' star plays Ben Sherwood in the medical drama, whom viewers have recently seen struggling with his sexuality, having made a move on Dom Copeland (David Ames) while he was still in a relationship with Essie Di Lucca (Kaye Wragg).
And as Charlie prepares to bid farewell to the show when Ben exits in scenes airing on Tuesday (17.03.20), the 47-year-old actor has said he will receive some wise words of advice from returning patient Roger Ffolkes (Paul Clayton) before he leaves.
Charlie explained: "Roger comes in - he\'s a gay man and he is no-nonsense, and he sees through Ben straight away.
"He knows that Ben is hiding something but he can\'t work out why at first. Gradually, he realises and there are some great scenes where he encourages Ben to come out almost. It\'s actually really lovely.
"I think for a lot of gay men who come out, they can feel quite angry at those who aren\'t being true to themselves because they think that lifestyle is difficult and they don\'t want to do it. That could make a lot of gay men angry and I think Roger definitely feels that way.
"So Ben realises that he needs to take himself out of the situation at the hospital and spend a bit of time trying to figure out who he is."
But despite leaving behind his partner Essie, Charlie says the pair still end on a "really good note".
He added to Digital Spy: "He leaves on a really good note with Essie and with Sacha which is nice. Ultimately, they all care very much for each other and that is really good. I am really pleased it was left that way where there is no animosity.
"He genuinely did fall in love with Essie and I think he really did want to marry her. But obviously you can\'t hide your true self - it is going to come out.
"There are a number of things that led him to that obviously. Kissing Dom probably didn\'t help though. I think he really did want a future with her but for some people it\'s very complicated and relationships are complicated."
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