Mike Parr is leaving 'Emmerdale'.
Mike Parr
The 31-year-old actor - who plays Ross Barton on the ITV soap - is set to depart his role later this year to "pursue other acting opportunities".
Emmerdale's acting series producer Kate Brooks told The Sun's Bizarre TV column: "Michael Parr will leave Emmerdale later this year at the end of his current contract. His decision to pursue other acting opportunities has given the writing team the opportunity to create an intriguing storyline for his exit. Michael, who is nominated for Best Actor at the British Soap Awards next month, will leave the show on a high after brilliantly portraying Ross for five years."
And Mike joked he might even end up staying if he took home the British Soap Awards prize.
Alongside crying laughing emojis, he wrote on Twitter: "Yes I'll be leaving the soap soon. Have had the best few years at Emmerdale but it's time to move on and explore other avenues. If I win that soap award I might stay though (sic)"
During his time on the show, Ross has been at the centre of huge storylines and he was recently the subject of an acid attack, ordered by Debbie Dingle (Ned Porteous).
Explaining how Ross is not dealing with the aftermath of the horrific incident well, Mike recently said: "[Drinking is his] escapism. Not only is it physically numbing the pain, because Ross is in constant agony, it also takes him away from the world he finds himself in. That's a very small world where he's trapped, alone and scared. These are new emotions to Ross.
"He's almost in self-destruct mode. Debbie doesn't want him in the way that he wants her. So her coming round is a kick in the teeth. So he feels like lashing out against her to try to push her away."