Joe Gill has thanked ‘Emmerdale’ viewers for their "constant support", after his character Finn Barton was killed off.
The 23-year-old actor bowed out of the popular ITV soap when Finn Barton – whom he had played for four years – passed away during Thursday’s (05.10.17) episode, after he finally succumbed to injuries he sustained when his mother Emma shot him earlier this week.
Now, in a note posted to Twitter, Joe has revealed he had made the "very tough decision" to leave the Yorkshire Dales months ago, and thanked the cast and crew for giving him the "best" four years of his life.
He wrote: "Earlier this year I made the very tough decision to leave the show in order to pursue other challenges.
"The 4 years I have spent in Emmerdale have been the best of my life and I couldn’t have asked for better people to be around.
"Thank you so much to the production team, the crew, the cast and of course my on screen family.
"It is something I will always look at with great pride when I think of the show and the character I played.
"And thank you to the viewers for your constant support, it has meant so much. Keep watching this week!
"Cheers, Joe x (sic)"
Meanwhile, Joe spoke to Digital Spy shortly before his exit, and explained that the decision to walk away from the soap had been in his mind since February.
He explained: "I spoke to our producer Iain MacLeod in late February. I knew that by the end of this contract, I’d have been on the show for four years. I’m very proud of the work that I’ve done on the character of Finn and I’ve really enjoyed working with everyone, but creatively, I felt that my time on the show had naturally come to an end.
"I’d just like to play a different character now and that was the only reason I’ve left. I absolutely loved my time on ‘Emmerdale’ and I’ve not got a bad word to say about the place. Plus, they always say you should leave on a high!"
Joe Gill leaves Emmerdale
