Emmerdale 's Ellis Chapman abruptly left the village on Wednesday evening after actor Aaron Anthony allegedly quit the role.
The latest edition of the ITV soap saw Ellis go ahead with his plan to move to Australia after a friend offered him a job.
His final scene saw him bid farewell to his brother Billy (Jay Kontzle) as he told him: "I feel bad leaving you to close down the business by yourself.
"Natural ending little bro, don't worry about it," Billy replied.
"You and Dawn will come though, yeah?" Ellis then asked, referring to a trip Down Under.
He then told Billy to promise him that he would send plenty of photos of his wedding to Dawn - which is set to take place on Valentine's Day.
"I want loads of wedding photos, I want to feel like I'm there," Ellis told him.
As he waited for his taxi, Ellis got a surprise visit from former flame Priya Sharma (Fiona Wade) - who was in tears as she said an emotional goodbye.
"You know I love you, don't you?" Priya told him.
"I love you, I always did," he replied, as Priya continued: "You know I'm not going to beg you to miss your flight. You have to go, take every opportunity that's thrown at you."
The pair then made a vague plan to meet up again in a few years before Ellis left and headed to the airport.
Earlier on in the episode, Ellis was heard telling Priya: "It feels weird leaving without a proper goodbye," after she told him she was too busy to meet up for a coffee.
Viewers were quick to pick up on Elli's abrupt exit and took to Twitter to comment.
One person posted: "Has this Ellis been sacked like the other one a couple of years ago? He seems to be exiting quickly #emmerdale."
Another person joked: "Ellis leaves knocking down David and Victoria on the way out. #Emmerdale."
And third person suggested: "i know its because aaron left but realistically i think al would of put up way more of a fight to stop ellis leaving #Emmerdale."
Aaron reportedly quit the soap after bosses launched a race probe against two of its biggest stars.
Insiders claimed the Ellis Chapman star was so furious about the alleged behaviour against one of his cast members that he decided to leave.
It comes after Matthew Wolfenden and Isabel Hodgins became embroiled in claims that a mixed race actress' accent was mimicked.
The stars, who play David Metcalfe and Victoria Sugden, categorically denied any allegations of wrongdoing, but it was claimed that Matthew and Aaron rowed after the alleged incident.
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7pm on ITV, with an extra episode at 8pm on Thursdays.
