EastEnders star Brian Conley has said it's "all going to fall apart" for his character Rocky after he turned to gambling in a desperate effort to tackle his financial issues.
Rocky's gambling habit has worsened of late as he's short of money at the same time his wife Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth) is ready to move out of Sonia Fowler's (Natalie Cassidy) house.
He has been in a pickle since his ex-wife Jo Cotton blackmailed Kathy into handing over her life savings to prevent her from pursuing a bigamy case against Rocky.
Things go from bad to worse when Rocky takes a loan from Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry), a mistake he soon becomes fully aware of.
"He's once again backed into a corner, which is typical for Rocky", Conley said. "He sees no other way out and sees this as a short-term loan that he’ll quickly pay off and get back on the straight and narrow. He doesn’t want to deal with Nish, but he sees this as a way out and a short-term fix."
Rocky hopes Nish might be "reasonable" because it's not long before Christmas.
The actor explained: "Rocky thinks, ‘Maybe he’ll see the light and feel sorry for me.’ That would be very unlike Nish, but Rocky hopes he can use a bit of his charm. Of course, it backfires because Nish sees straight through it, and once again, Rocky is between a rock and a hard place!"
Conley continued of the horrendous situation Rocky finds himself in: "Nish treats him with utter contempt. Now Rocky is really worried because it underlines how Nish thinks of him, and he knows he’s in a terrible position.
"By this point, Rocky is grasping at straws and trying to turn to gambling to sort it, but it won’t work. He should know that there’s only one winner in gambling, and that’s the bookies. I supposed in his heart he does know that, but Rocky thinks he’s got no other way of escaping this."
The soap star said because Rocky is a "people pleaser" he doesn't want to tell Kathy the truth of his situation.
"He’s so optimistic that he believes things will sort themselves out in the end," Conley said of his character.
"He thinks, ‘It’ll be alright, it’ll be ok, it’s fine.’ That’s his mantra so he’s plodding along, thinking he can sort it in the end. But yes, of course, he should have told Kath, and he should have told Kath so many things."
The actor said Rocky is scared when Nish turns the screw and tells him that he needs to pay up.
"He's scared because Nish holds all the cards now and has a huge game plan", he said. "I think Nish hopes Rocky's got a gambling problem because if he has, he’s got him right where he wants him.
"Nish knows more than anyone that the bookies always win, and it’s only a matter of time before the house of cards comes tumbling down. It’s all going to fall apart for Rocky."
The actor added that Rocky is too "pig-headed" to take Harvey's advice.
"He's much more optimistic about everything and puts a positive slant on it all. All Harvey is saying is the truth and pointing out the consequences, but Rocky thinks he’s being negative and nagging," he said.
Conley, who is soon set to depart the BBC soap, said he has thoroughly enjoyed filming this storyline.
"We’ve had lots of these great scenes where Nish wanders up and threatens Rocky," he said.
"Navin Chowdhry is great, and he’s nothing like Nish! We have a lot of fun when we are on set - he’s a lovely guy. Nish is a great villain, so intimidating and very good to play against because you feel a bit scared of him."
EastEnders airs on RTÉ One, RTÉ Player and BBC One Monday to Thursday.
